Part 4
Mulder and Scully arrived at the Rosenberg Residence early that morning. They rang the doorbell and the door was opened by a man in his late thirty's.
Mulder and Scully flashed their badges.
"Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully with the FBI," Mulder said by way of greeting. "Are you Ira Rosenberg?"
Barrington shook his head. "No. My name is Albert Barrington." He flashed his own badge. "I'm also FBI, but no one has ever called me special." Being in the FBI was only a cover for what he truly was. He worked for the government, but the outfit he was in-codenamed the Hunters- was secretly sanctioned. The Hunters was a strike force against acts of terrorism. "What's so special about you two?"
Mulder and Scully looked at each other. Then they looked at Barrington and saw that he was grinning at them. Mulder returned the grin, but the red- haired lady was all business.
"You're working on the case of Willow Rosenberg's disappearance?" Scully wanted to know, always going for the obvious.
Barrington looked at her. "How do you know Willow Rosenberg is missing?"
Mulder held up the paper and he showed him the article. There was even a picture of Willow in the article. Barrington took the paper and scowled. "How did the press get this?"
Mulder and Scully again looked at each other. "This was supposed to be kept secret?" Mulder wanted to know.
Barrington let out a sigh. "C'mon in," he said, not answering the question.
The FBI agents followed Barrington in through the front door.
"Where are the Rosenberg's?" Scully asked.
"They're at a safe house," Barrington responded. "They're out of danger and we'd like to keep them that way."
The agents followed Barrington through the living room and the kitchen.
Eventually they wound up in Willow's room where Billy "Crazy Man" Fronk was sitting at Willow's computer. Pieces of it was scattered about the room. He had on a pair of headphones, a mouthpiece with a microphone, and there was even a gadget over his left eye that made him look like the Borg. He had three different keyboards and a toggle stick hooked up to the computer. There was also a stack of papers on the floor at his feet.
Barrington waved at the man. "This is William Fronk, otherwise known as Crazy Man." Hr turned to the Hunters computer expert. "Bill, I'd like to introduce--"
Fronk cut him off with a cackle and he waved at the newcomers. "We-ell!! I'll be a sonofabitch! Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully!" He let out a Pop-eye laugh. "Well, shiver me timbers, and look outs be-loooooow!" Suddenly, he switched to valley-dude mode. "Oh, sorry, ma-an, but...uh...I'd really like to get up and like shake your hands and all, you know, dude and dudette...but...uh...like I'm really kind of buried underneath all this stuff right now...Bummer, huh? You know?"
Mulder and Scully looked at each other.
"How did you know who we were?" Scully demanded.
Fronk grinned and turned on his John Wayne. "Hell, pretty lady." He winked at her. "I'm what you would call a subscriber."
"To what?"
He laughed an evil laugh, playing the villain. "The Lone Gunmen, of
course." He leered at the two agents with his one visible eye. "Now I know all your dirty little secrets, too. Nyay!"
Barrington saw the look that Scully shot at Mulder and he wished him well. He tried to keep himself from grinning...too much.
"Mulder...did they write an article about us?" Scully demanded.
Mulder did the only thing he could think of in a circumstance like this one. He completely ignored the question. "So, Crazy Man...you like the Lone Gunmen subscription?"
Fronk nodded his head. "But I'm not the only one who likes them," he said knowingly.
Mulder looked at Barrington. "You?"
Barrington shook his head. "No. Actually it looks like Willow has a
subscription as well." He indicated the stack of papers at Fronk's feet.
Mulder saw the magazines and flipped through them. "Interesting." He
looked at Fronk and knew that the man was some kind of genius with the
computer. "So...who exactly is this Willow Rosenberg, and why is she
missing?"
"We don't have all the answers yet," Barrington began, "but we do know that Willow was kidnapped by terrorists from the Iranian Liberation Front. We don't know why yet, except that these terrorists had tapped into her computer."
"But you know that they have kidnapped her for certain?" Scully asked.
He nodded grimly. "I received a call from my partner just before you
arrived. One of Willow's friends had received videotape this morning.
They viewed it in the school's library."
"What was on the tape?"
"An interrogation."
Scully looked at him incredulous. "Are you saying that terrorists
interrogated a young girl and they recorded it?"
"What else was on the tape?" Mulder asked.
Barrington shrugged. "I don't know. My partners are bringing the tape with them. They'll be here shortly. The school's not far from here."
Mulder paused in thought. He was thinking of the Hellmouth. "I wonder why terrorists want to come here to Sunnydale, California."
Scully shot him a look.
Fronk tapped on Mulder's arm.
Mulder looked at him.
Fronk grinned. "Saaaaaaaay! Do ya think the Lone Gunmen would write an article about me?"
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Stacy was amazed that Xander's hand was not damaged. There wasn't a scratch or a bruise from when his fist had gone through the television set. The VCR, of course, was unharmed and Lenox extracted the video from it.
Buffy and Cordelia were almost in a state of shock. Giles himself was at a total loss of words and Jenny was trying to offer some comfort. Lenox moved to Giles office where he used the phone to call Barrington as Stacy made certain that Xander was all right.
Xander was not all right. His cool demeanor was almost shaken to the core and as Buffy watched him, she could recall another time when he had acted this way. It was when she had returned with Xander from the Power Plant, escaping from vampires with their lives intact. That day, both Willow and Xander had lost a friend...Jesse.
"It's all my fault," Xander retorted angrily. "I should have gone with her to her house after school. I should have..." He stopped. He looked over and saw that Cordelia was watching him. He hadn't gone to Willow's house after school because he had been in a closet with Cordelia, and they had been into some serious kissing. He looked away. "I'm the one to blame."
Stacy shook her head and put her hands on his shoulder, trying to get him to look at her. "No, Xander. No one is to blame for this except those who were responsible in taking Willow away."
He looked at her. Then he shook his head. "Oh, God...I've been such a damn fool."
"Hey, we will get her back."
He paused. He could see through the window into Giles office where Lenox was talking onto the phone. Xander nodded his head toward him. "You think he can really find Willow?"
Stacy nodded, looking toward her husband. "Yes."
Buffy and Cordelia got up from where they were and they joined them. Giles and Jenny were close by and before any one knew it, a hug exchanging and back patting had begun.
Xander regained some of his lost composure as he looked at Buffy and
Cordelia. "You know...Willow is very smart when it comes to computers." He regarded Stacy. "Did you know that before your wedding, she wanted to make certain that you were marrying the right guy."
Stacy looked at him. "Really? No. I didn't know that."
Buffy smiled wryly as she recalled. "Yeah, I remember that. Super
Hacker-Girl hacked into some files and she went-a searching for anything she could find about Michael Lenox. For at least four days, that's all she would talk about! Then she found out that he was some kind of secret agent sanctioned by the government."
Xander let out a chuckle. "Willow thought that word was cool. 'Sanction'."
Stacy tried not to look so alarmed. But the thought of Willow hacking into files to learn about Lenox was distressing to her. It meant that she must have gone into government files. Could that be...? Her thoughts trailed off as Cordelia jumped into the conversation.
"You'll be happy to know,'" Cordelia began with a friendly smile, "that
Willow has decided Michael Lenox is good for you. After all, he was
fighting to save the world...just like Buffy!" She suddenly frowned when both Xander and Buffy gave her warning looks. "What? It's what Willow said!"
Stacy placed a reassuring hand on Buffy's arm. "It's okay, Buffy. We know that you're the Slayer. We've known that since you've been here."
Buffy looked at her in surprise.
Giles cleared his throat. "Uhm...E-excuse me for just a...a moment, won't you?" He waited as Stacy turned to look at him and he tried to gather his thoughts. "You know...about the Slayer?"
"Yes, we do," Lenox responded as he re-entered the room with the videotape in his hand. "We know a lot about Sunnydale and it's history. Not as much as you know about it, but enough." Solemnly, he turned to regard Xander and Buffy. "You guys are right. Willow is good with the computer...but there are others out there who are better. Willow got careless."
Xander frowned. He was prepared to defend Willow at any cost. "What do you mean, she was careless?"
Lenox glanced at his wife. "Willow broke into some files that she wasn't supposed to. Government files. She went in and then when she backed out, I'm sure she must have thought that she was covering her tracks. Unfortunately, she left a trail that led right back to her. That's how the terrorists discovered her. That's how they learned about Sunnydale." He paused as he gathered his thoughts. Then he looked at Xander. "I heard you out here blaming yourself. If you want to blame someone, Xander, don't blame yourself. Blame me."
"You?"
"If there is blame to give, then I'm the one who's at fault. She went into the net looking for information about me, and that's how they found her."
Silence filled the room.
"We have to find her," Buffy said. She was tired of talking about blame. She wanted action.
Lenox nodded his head. "We will. But we need to work together."
"Wait a minute! You're actually going to let us help you?" Cordelia was incredulous. "But, like...in all the movies, the agents always want to do it themselves, and there's usually a big fight!"
"Well, our situation is somewhat unique," Giles pointed out. "For one,
Buffy fights vampires."
"And I fight terrorists," Lenox said. He looked at Buffy. "And they're both out there waiting for us."
Buffy shrugged. "Oh, great. I get it! This is like a Marvel-Teamup.
Spider-Girl teams up with the Punisher to fight against Dr. Doom and
Morbius!"
Giles took off his glasses as he tried to gather his thoughts. "He's...he's right, Buffy. You know plenty about vampires and demons...a- and such, but you don't know a thing about terrorists. I must admit, I myself am at a loss. They don't appear to even act with rational thought, and yet...they're obviously rather clever. Almost too clever. The most unpredictable enemy ever encountered."
"Yeah, well..." Xander began, thinking only of Willow, "I don't care how unpredictable these bastards are. Willow shouldn't be in their clutches alone. I have to go to her."
Buffy looked at him in alarm. "Xander, what...what are you saying?"
Xander turned to look at her. He suddenly realized that all eyes were upon him. He decided that he couldn't let them know what he was thinking, that he fully intended to give himself over to the terrorists at the first opportunity so that Willow wouldn't be going through this ordeal alone. He faked a smile and a shrug. "Nothing, Buffy. I'm just talking crazy talk because I'm scared for Willow."
She shook her head and moved to stand in front of him, looking into his
eyes. "No, you're not, Xander! I know you better than you realize. You're talking crazy talk because you're thinking about doing something crazy. You can't do it! We can't lose you, too. I can't lose both of you!" Her lower lip began to quiver. "I've thrown a desk at you before, dammit! Please don't make me do it again."
Xander took a deep breath. "Stop saying that 'we can't lose you, too' bit. We haven't lost Willow and we're not going to."
"If you go to them, they won't need her," she said softly. "Do you think they'll let her go?"
Lenox nodded his head grimly. "Buffy's right, Xander. If you give yourself up to them, they may kill Willow."
Xander shook his head in anger. "No, they wouldn't. I don't believe that for a minute. They might use her against me, but they wouldn't kill her!" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Why the hell are we talking about this?! Isn't there something we should be doing? Like LOOKING FOR WILLOW?!"
Giles turned to Lenox. "What is the plan?"
"I need to get this tape to Willow's house." Lenox let out a weary sigh as he glanced with concern at Xander. "We'll watch it again and see if there's anything in there that might indicate where the terrorists are holding Willow. We'll also be able to identify the terrorists. We've seen some of their faces so we might be able to get a profile on them if they're in the FBI terrorist database."
Cordelia raised a hand as if she were in a class. "Oh...what do we do?"
Stacy glanced at Lenox. "We should all stay at Willow's house. Not one of you should be alone. They may come after you."
"Let them come," Xander replied softly.
Buffy shot him a worried look. "Uhm...I have to run home," she said. "My Mom is away on a business trip, but she might have called and left messages for me. And I really have to check them." As if she had just thought of the idea, she smiled brightly. "I know! Xander should come with me! We'll go in, check for messages real quick...and then meet everybody back at Willow's for a real Terrorist-Bashing Pre-Party!" She smiled at the others. "Okay? All right with you guys?" She nodded quickly, and spoke again before anyone could respond. "Good! Then that's settled." She grabbed Xander's arm and began to guide him toward the door. "Let's go, Xander-Man."
"Wait a minute..." Lenox stopped them. "Someone else should go with you."
Buffy shook her head. "No need for that. Really! I am the Slayer. I know how to defend myself." Silently, she added, I really need to speak with Xander so butt out!
Stacy moved toward them. "Why don't I drive you there?"
Buffy opened her mouth to respond.
Stacy seemed to understand why Buffy wanted to go alone with Xander. "I'll take you to your house and wait in the car while you check for your mothers messages."
"Oh..." Buffy shrugged. "Okay. Then...let's go."
Cordelia headed for them. "Hey! Wait for me!"
Buffy looked at her, but she didn't know how to tell Cordelia to bug off without being polite about it. So the foursome left together. Lenox went back to the Rosenberg Residence with Giles and Jenny.
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During the drive to Buffy's house, hardly a word was spoken at first. Stacy understood what was going on through their minds. She could tell that Xander and Cordelia had been having an "experimental" fling. There was or had been something there between Xander and Buffy as well, she thought, only Buffy clearly just wanted to be friends.
However, something was happening to Xander. Stacy had seen his face when he watched the tape. Something happened within him as he had watched Willow's confession of her feelings for him. It was as if he came to a realization that was always there, but just under the surface. He was dealing with emotions he had not wanted to face.
Xander was riding in the front seat with Stacy, and as she drove, she kept watch of him with concern. "Xander...are you okay?"
Xander let out a sigh. He turned his head to glance in the back seat at Buffy and Cordelia, who were also watching him with worry in their eyes. He sat back, looked out the window, and took a deep breath. "No, Mrs. Lenox. I am not okay. Nowhere near it." He threw his hands up dramatically. "This is the worst day of my life." He shook his head. "And the worst thing of it is...I can't get Willow out of my mind."
"Are you trying to get Willow out of your mind?"
"No...I'm not trying to get Willow out!" He suddenly felt a little choked up. "I'm trying to block out those images on the tape." He looked out the window. "Willow's my best friend. She's my...she's my girl. And I'm scared...and a little messed up right now like I've never been so messed up before."
Stacy glanced in the rearview mirror at the two quiet girls in the back
seat. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked Xander.
Xander glanced at her. "Do you work for the government, too...or are you some kind of shrink?"
She favored him with a smile.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Well...it's like this. 'She likes him...but he likes her...and she likes somebody else...you just can't win.'" He looked at Stacy and shook his head. "The bottom line is that J. Giels is right. Love stinks!"
"I'm sorry, Xander," Cordelia said softly from the back seat.
He spun around to face her, ready to chew her out even if she didn't really deserve it, but he stopped short. He was surprised to find tears in Cordelia's eyes. He couldn't remember ever seeing tears there before. She did have a reputation for being an Ice Queen so this new image of her wasn't something he was accustomed to.
Xander hesitated, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Cordy."
"I'm sorry about Willow, and everything we've done to hurt her,
and...and..." She shook her head. "I'm just sorry!"
Buffy put her arms around her and the next thing Xander knew, both girls were crying. He didn't know what to do, so he reached back there with a hand on Buffy's shoulder and a hand on Cordelia's shoulder and he shook them gently. "Okay...enough of that! I don't know how much more of this I can stand. I...I..." He sighed. "Aw, hell! I'll just spit it out...okay?"
Buffy and Cordelia looked at him.
He sighed heavily. "All right...Here goes. Buffy...I have always wanted to go out with you since day one. From the first time I saw you...up until I saw that tape. Besides, you do have Angel." He looked at Cordelia. "And you! You are one heluva kisser, but...I think my feelings for you are from my out-of-control hormones that simply refuse to behave every time I see a pretty face and a curvy..." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Cordy. I know we have something, but I don't think it's love. I--"
Cordelia shook her head and raised a hand toward him to shush him. "It's okay. I know." She paused. "You know, Xander, you're just like every guy out there."
He looked at her suspiciously. "Cordy...I'm not sure if that's a
compliment."
"It's the truth. You just don't get it, do you? You just don't know what you have until it's been taken away from you. I use to watch the way you and Willow acted whenever you were together, and I always thought that you would have made the perfect couple."
Xander looked surprised. "You did?"
Buffy agreed. "So did I. You and Willow do make a nice couple."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"Xander, Willow was giving you every signal in the book! You were just so blind to every one of those signals. You were too busy looking at other things. Things you couldn't have!"
Stacy drove into Buffy's driveway. "The grass is always greener on the
other side," she commented.
Xander paused in thought. "Yeah...but when you get to the other side, you discover that the grass is just turf and underneath is nothing but dirt."
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TO BE CONTINUED...
Mulder and Scully arrived at the Rosenberg Residence early that morning. They rang the doorbell and the door was opened by a man in his late thirty's.
Mulder and Scully flashed their badges.
"Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully with the FBI," Mulder said by way of greeting. "Are you Ira Rosenberg?"
Barrington shook his head. "No. My name is Albert Barrington." He flashed his own badge. "I'm also FBI, but no one has ever called me special." Being in the FBI was only a cover for what he truly was. He worked for the government, but the outfit he was in-codenamed the Hunters- was secretly sanctioned. The Hunters was a strike force against acts of terrorism. "What's so special about you two?"
Mulder and Scully looked at each other. Then they looked at Barrington and saw that he was grinning at them. Mulder returned the grin, but the red- haired lady was all business.
"You're working on the case of Willow Rosenberg's disappearance?" Scully wanted to know, always going for the obvious.
Barrington looked at her. "How do you know Willow Rosenberg is missing?"
Mulder held up the paper and he showed him the article. There was even a picture of Willow in the article. Barrington took the paper and scowled. "How did the press get this?"
Mulder and Scully again looked at each other. "This was supposed to be kept secret?" Mulder wanted to know.
Barrington let out a sigh. "C'mon in," he said, not answering the question.
The FBI agents followed Barrington in through the front door.
"Where are the Rosenberg's?" Scully asked.
"They're at a safe house," Barrington responded. "They're out of danger and we'd like to keep them that way."
The agents followed Barrington through the living room and the kitchen.
Eventually they wound up in Willow's room where Billy "Crazy Man" Fronk was sitting at Willow's computer. Pieces of it was scattered about the room. He had on a pair of headphones, a mouthpiece with a microphone, and there was even a gadget over his left eye that made him look like the Borg. He had three different keyboards and a toggle stick hooked up to the computer. There was also a stack of papers on the floor at his feet.
Barrington waved at the man. "This is William Fronk, otherwise known as Crazy Man." Hr turned to the Hunters computer expert. "Bill, I'd like to introduce--"
Fronk cut him off with a cackle and he waved at the newcomers. "We-ell!! I'll be a sonofabitch! Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully!" He let out a Pop-eye laugh. "Well, shiver me timbers, and look outs be-loooooow!" Suddenly, he switched to valley-dude mode. "Oh, sorry, ma-an, but...uh...I'd really like to get up and like shake your hands and all, you know, dude and dudette...but...uh...like I'm really kind of buried underneath all this stuff right now...Bummer, huh? You know?"
Mulder and Scully looked at each other.
"How did you know who we were?" Scully demanded.
Fronk grinned and turned on his John Wayne. "Hell, pretty lady." He winked at her. "I'm what you would call a subscriber."
"To what?"
He laughed an evil laugh, playing the villain. "The Lone Gunmen, of
course." He leered at the two agents with his one visible eye. "Now I know all your dirty little secrets, too. Nyay!"
Barrington saw the look that Scully shot at Mulder and he wished him well. He tried to keep himself from grinning...too much.
"Mulder...did they write an article about us?" Scully demanded.
Mulder did the only thing he could think of in a circumstance like this one. He completely ignored the question. "So, Crazy Man...you like the Lone Gunmen subscription?"
Fronk nodded his head. "But I'm not the only one who likes them," he said knowingly.
Mulder looked at Barrington. "You?"
Barrington shook his head. "No. Actually it looks like Willow has a
subscription as well." He indicated the stack of papers at Fronk's feet.
Mulder saw the magazines and flipped through them. "Interesting." He
looked at Fronk and knew that the man was some kind of genius with the
computer. "So...who exactly is this Willow Rosenberg, and why is she
missing?"
"We don't have all the answers yet," Barrington began, "but we do know that Willow was kidnapped by terrorists from the Iranian Liberation Front. We don't know why yet, except that these terrorists had tapped into her computer."
"But you know that they have kidnapped her for certain?" Scully asked.
He nodded grimly. "I received a call from my partner just before you
arrived. One of Willow's friends had received videotape this morning.
They viewed it in the school's library."
"What was on the tape?"
"An interrogation."
Scully looked at him incredulous. "Are you saying that terrorists
interrogated a young girl and they recorded it?"
"What else was on the tape?" Mulder asked.
Barrington shrugged. "I don't know. My partners are bringing the tape with them. They'll be here shortly. The school's not far from here."
Mulder paused in thought. He was thinking of the Hellmouth. "I wonder why terrorists want to come here to Sunnydale, California."
Scully shot him a look.
Fronk tapped on Mulder's arm.
Mulder looked at him.
Fronk grinned. "Saaaaaaaay! Do ya think the Lone Gunmen would write an article about me?"
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Stacy was amazed that Xander's hand was not damaged. There wasn't a scratch or a bruise from when his fist had gone through the television set. The VCR, of course, was unharmed and Lenox extracted the video from it.
Buffy and Cordelia were almost in a state of shock. Giles himself was at a total loss of words and Jenny was trying to offer some comfort. Lenox moved to Giles office where he used the phone to call Barrington as Stacy made certain that Xander was all right.
Xander was not all right. His cool demeanor was almost shaken to the core and as Buffy watched him, she could recall another time when he had acted this way. It was when she had returned with Xander from the Power Plant, escaping from vampires with their lives intact. That day, both Willow and Xander had lost a friend...Jesse.
"It's all my fault," Xander retorted angrily. "I should have gone with her to her house after school. I should have..." He stopped. He looked over and saw that Cordelia was watching him. He hadn't gone to Willow's house after school because he had been in a closet with Cordelia, and they had been into some serious kissing. He looked away. "I'm the one to blame."
Stacy shook her head and put her hands on his shoulder, trying to get him to look at her. "No, Xander. No one is to blame for this except those who were responsible in taking Willow away."
He looked at her. Then he shook his head. "Oh, God...I've been such a damn fool."
"Hey, we will get her back."
He paused. He could see through the window into Giles office where Lenox was talking onto the phone. Xander nodded his head toward him. "You think he can really find Willow?"
Stacy nodded, looking toward her husband. "Yes."
Buffy and Cordelia got up from where they were and they joined them. Giles and Jenny were close by and before any one knew it, a hug exchanging and back patting had begun.
Xander regained some of his lost composure as he looked at Buffy and
Cordelia. "You know...Willow is very smart when it comes to computers." He regarded Stacy. "Did you know that before your wedding, she wanted to make certain that you were marrying the right guy."
Stacy looked at him. "Really? No. I didn't know that."
Buffy smiled wryly as she recalled. "Yeah, I remember that. Super
Hacker-Girl hacked into some files and she went-a searching for anything she could find about Michael Lenox. For at least four days, that's all she would talk about! Then she found out that he was some kind of secret agent sanctioned by the government."
Xander let out a chuckle. "Willow thought that word was cool. 'Sanction'."
Stacy tried not to look so alarmed. But the thought of Willow hacking into files to learn about Lenox was distressing to her. It meant that she must have gone into government files. Could that be...? Her thoughts trailed off as Cordelia jumped into the conversation.
"You'll be happy to know,'" Cordelia began with a friendly smile, "that
Willow has decided Michael Lenox is good for you. After all, he was
fighting to save the world...just like Buffy!" She suddenly frowned when both Xander and Buffy gave her warning looks. "What? It's what Willow said!"
Stacy placed a reassuring hand on Buffy's arm. "It's okay, Buffy. We know that you're the Slayer. We've known that since you've been here."
Buffy looked at her in surprise.
Giles cleared his throat. "Uhm...E-excuse me for just a...a moment, won't you?" He waited as Stacy turned to look at him and he tried to gather his thoughts. "You know...about the Slayer?"
"Yes, we do," Lenox responded as he re-entered the room with the videotape in his hand. "We know a lot about Sunnydale and it's history. Not as much as you know about it, but enough." Solemnly, he turned to regard Xander and Buffy. "You guys are right. Willow is good with the computer...but there are others out there who are better. Willow got careless."
Xander frowned. He was prepared to defend Willow at any cost. "What do you mean, she was careless?"
Lenox glanced at his wife. "Willow broke into some files that she wasn't supposed to. Government files. She went in and then when she backed out, I'm sure she must have thought that she was covering her tracks. Unfortunately, she left a trail that led right back to her. That's how the terrorists discovered her. That's how they learned about Sunnydale." He paused as he gathered his thoughts. Then he looked at Xander. "I heard you out here blaming yourself. If you want to blame someone, Xander, don't blame yourself. Blame me."
"You?"
"If there is blame to give, then I'm the one who's at fault. She went into the net looking for information about me, and that's how they found her."
Silence filled the room.
"We have to find her," Buffy said. She was tired of talking about blame. She wanted action.
Lenox nodded his head. "We will. But we need to work together."
"Wait a minute! You're actually going to let us help you?" Cordelia was incredulous. "But, like...in all the movies, the agents always want to do it themselves, and there's usually a big fight!"
"Well, our situation is somewhat unique," Giles pointed out. "For one,
Buffy fights vampires."
"And I fight terrorists," Lenox said. He looked at Buffy. "And they're both out there waiting for us."
Buffy shrugged. "Oh, great. I get it! This is like a Marvel-Teamup.
Spider-Girl teams up with the Punisher to fight against Dr. Doom and
Morbius!"
Giles took off his glasses as he tried to gather his thoughts. "He's...he's right, Buffy. You know plenty about vampires and demons...a- and such, but you don't know a thing about terrorists. I must admit, I myself am at a loss. They don't appear to even act with rational thought, and yet...they're obviously rather clever. Almost too clever. The most unpredictable enemy ever encountered."
"Yeah, well..." Xander began, thinking only of Willow, "I don't care how unpredictable these bastards are. Willow shouldn't be in their clutches alone. I have to go to her."
Buffy looked at him in alarm. "Xander, what...what are you saying?"
Xander turned to look at her. He suddenly realized that all eyes were upon him. He decided that he couldn't let them know what he was thinking, that he fully intended to give himself over to the terrorists at the first opportunity so that Willow wouldn't be going through this ordeal alone. He faked a smile and a shrug. "Nothing, Buffy. I'm just talking crazy talk because I'm scared for Willow."
She shook her head and moved to stand in front of him, looking into his
eyes. "No, you're not, Xander! I know you better than you realize. You're talking crazy talk because you're thinking about doing something crazy. You can't do it! We can't lose you, too. I can't lose both of you!" Her lower lip began to quiver. "I've thrown a desk at you before, dammit! Please don't make me do it again."
Xander took a deep breath. "Stop saying that 'we can't lose you, too' bit. We haven't lost Willow and we're not going to."
"If you go to them, they won't need her," she said softly. "Do you think they'll let her go?"
Lenox nodded his head grimly. "Buffy's right, Xander. If you give yourself up to them, they may kill Willow."
Xander shook his head in anger. "No, they wouldn't. I don't believe that for a minute. They might use her against me, but they wouldn't kill her!" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Why the hell are we talking about this?! Isn't there something we should be doing? Like LOOKING FOR WILLOW?!"
Giles turned to Lenox. "What is the plan?"
"I need to get this tape to Willow's house." Lenox let out a weary sigh as he glanced with concern at Xander. "We'll watch it again and see if there's anything in there that might indicate where the terrorists are holding Willow. We'll also be able to identify the terrorists. We've seen some of their faces so we might be able to get a profile on them if they're in the FBI terrorist database."
Cordelia raised a hand as if she were in a class. "Oh...what do we do?"
Stacy glanced at Lenox. "We should all stay at Willow's house. Not one of you should be alone. They may come after you."
"Let them come," Xander replied softly.
Buffy shot him a worried look. "Uhm...I have to run home," she said. "My Mom is away on a business trip, but she might have called and left messages for me. And I really have to check them." As if she had just thought of the idea, she smiled brightly. "I know! Xander should come with me! We'll go in, check for messages real quick...and then meet everybody back at Willow's for a real Terrorist-Bashing Pre-Party!" She smiled at the others. "Okay? All right with you guys?" She nodded quickly, and spoke again before anyone could respond. "Good! Then that's settled." She grabbed Xander's arm and began to guide him toward the door. "Let's go, Xander-Man."
"Wait a minute..." Lenox stopped them. "Someone else should go with you."
Buffy shook her head. "No need for that. Really! I am the Slayer. I know how to defend myself." Silently, she added, I really need to speak with Xander so butt out!
Stacy moved toward them. "Why don't I drive you there?"
Buffy opened her mouth to respond.
Stacy seemed to understand why Buffy wanted to go alone with Xander. "I'll take you to your house and wait in the car while you check for your mothers messages."
"Oh..." Buffy shrugged. "Okay. Then...let's go."
Cordelia headed for them. "Hey! Wait for me!"
Buffy looked at her, but she didn't know how to tell Cordelia to bug off without being polite about it. So the foursome left together. Lenox went back to the Rosenberg Residence with Giles and Jenny.
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During the drive to Buffy's house, hardly a word was spoken at first. Stacy understood what was going on through their minds. She could tell that Xander and Cordelia had been having an "experimental" fling. There was or had been something there between Xander and Buffy as well, she thought, only Buffy clearly just wanted to be friends.
However, something was happening to Xander. Stacy had seen his face when he watched the tape. Something happened within him as he had watched Willow's confession of her feelings for him. It was as if he came to a realization that was always there, but just under the surface. He was dealing with emotions he had not wanted to face.
Xander was riding in the front seat with Stacy, and as she drove, she kept watch of him with concern. "Xander...are you okay?"
Xander let out a sigh. He turned his head to glance in the back seat at Buffy and Cordelia, who were also watching him with worry in their eyes. He sat back, looked out the window, and took a deep breath. "No, Mrs. Lenox. I am not okay. Nowhere near it." He threw his hands up dramatically. "This is the worst day of my life." He shook his head. "And the worst thing of it is...I can't get Willow out of my mind."
"Are you trying to get Willow out of your mind?"
"No...I'm not trying to get Willow out!" He suddenly felt a little choked up. "I'm trying to block out those images on the tape." He looked out the window. "Willow's my best friend. She's my...she's my girl. And I'm scared...and a little messed up right now like I've never been so messed up before."
Stacy glanced in the rearview mirror at the two quiet girls in the back
seat. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked Xander.
Xander glanced at her. "Do you work for the government, too...or are you some kind of shrink?"
She favored him with a smile.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Well...it's like this. 'She likes him...but he likes her...and she likes somebody else...you just can't win.'" He looked at Stacy and shook his head. "The bottom line is that J. Giels is right. Love stinks!"
"I'm sorry, Xander," Cordelia said softly from the back seat.
He spun around to face her, ready to chew her out even if she didn't really deserve it, but he stopped short. He was surprised to find tears in Cordelia's eyes. He couldn't remember ever seeing tears there before. She did have a reputation for being an Ice Queen so this new image of her wasn't something he was accustomed to.
Xander hesitated, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Cordy."
"I'm sorry about Willow, and everything we've done to hurt her,
and...and..." She shook her head. "I'm just sorry!"
Buffy put her arms around her and the next thing Xander knew, both girls were crying. He didn't know what to do, so he reached back there with a hand on Buffy's shoulder and a hand on Cordelia's shoulder and he shook them gently. "Okay...enough of that! I don't know how much more of this I can stand. I...I..." He sighed. "Aw, hell! I'll just spit it out...okay?"
Buffy and Cordelia looked at him.
He sighed heavily. "All right...Here goes. Buffy...I have always wanted to go out with you since day one. From the first time I saw you...up until I saw that tape. Besides, you do have Angel." He looked at Cordelia. "And you! You are one heluva kisser, but...I think my feelings for you are from my out-of-control hormones that simply refuse to behave every time I see a pretty face and a curvy..." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Cordy. I know we have something, but I don't think it's love. I--"
Cordelia shook her head and raised a hand toward him to shush him. "It's okay. I know." She paused. "You know, Xander, you're just like every guy out there."
He looked at her suspiciously. "Cordy...I'm not sure if that's a
compliment."
"It's the truth. You just don't get it, do you? You just don't know what you have until it's been taken away from you. I use to watch the way you and Willow acted whenever you were together, and I always thought that you would have made the perfect couple."
Xander looked surprised. "You did?"
Buffy agreed. "So did I. You and Willow do make a nice couple."
"Why didn't you say something?"
"Xander, Willow was giving you every signal in the book! You were just so blind to every one of those signals. You were too busy looking at other things. Things you couldn't have!"
Stacy drove into Buffy's driveway. "The grass is always greener on the
other side," she commented.
Xander paused in thought. "Yeah...but when you get to the other side, you discover that the grass is just turf and underneath is nothing but dirt."
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TO BE CONTINUED...