Part 12: Where Have You Been Hiding?
Lang sat at the computer, typing away furiously. One little lead that was all she needed. One.
Travers was growing more and more impatient with her and she feared she might be joining her old assistant in the great beyond if she did not provide something useful soon. They had come so close in Prague, so close. But there hadn't been a word since then.
When the words on the screen began to bleed together, Lang turned away, forcefully jerked off her glasses and throwing them on the table in front of her.
They knew it had to be someone with power that was helping them, that was the only way they could literally drop off the face of the earth like they had. The only question was, who? There were many powerful men who had knowledge of the super natural world, any of which could have taken an interest in the couple and the child. After all, with news of the miracle child's birth, surely those who were familiar with the old prophecies would know that the angel would be soon to follow.
Travers had gone strait to work hiding this information from the rest of the Council. Most of them had no knowledge of the project at all, just a few high ranking officials, and that was how he planned to keep it. Someday, when the angel was older, she would have to choose her loyalties, and he wanted to be the soul person with that honor. He cared nothing if she served the Council, only him.
The computer dinged as it told her that she had a new e-mail, and the tired woman reluctantly answered it. Her eyes grew wide as she read the letter, a smile daring to grow on her mouth.
It was from one of a butcher shop just outside of Madrid that catered for 'special need' services. Apparently, some wealthy horse racer that lived on the outskirts of town suddenly had an increased need for pigs blood.
******
"Come on, Dylan, you can do it," Buffy encouraged the child that was on its hands and knees on the perfectly manicured lawn. "Come to Mommy."
She had herself position mere inches away from the baby, who was learning her brand new skill of crawling. Rosemary said she was still fairly young, being that she was only seven months, but Dylan was just like her parents. She was going to stick to something until she got it, no matter what people said. The child began to jerk back and forth as she tried to will herself forward, wanting to get to her mother so she would lift her up. Finally, she placed one hand out, scooted on her knees, then followed with the other hand.
"That's it, come on," Buffy said happily as the child came the few inches to her. She bent down and picked her up, kissing her on the cheek for her triumph. "That's my girl," she said between kisses.
"I take it she is mastering the art of crawling," Catherine said as she walked towards the mother and daughter pair from the house.
"Yeah," Buffy beamed. "Won't be long, and I'll have to chase her down for a bath or feeding time."
"Trust me when I say you will never have to chase her down for a feeding," Catherine laughed.
Buffy giggled a little before turning back to her daughter. Her little mouth formed a perfect O as she looked in wonder at the sky above, which was growing dark. For some reason, twilight and sunrise amazed the child, leaving her in a transfixed stage whenever she witnessed them. The stars started to faintly break through the veil of blue and black, and her tiny hand reached up, as if trying to catch one, temporarily forgetting her accomplishment.
Buffy bent over and kissed her forehead, marveling at her amazement.
Her bright blue eyes turned to her mother, and Buffy caught her breath. When she was born, Buffy had thought that she had inherited those from her sister, but Dylan's was much sharper, much deeper. Now that she was looking at them, in dim light as night fast approached, she realized how much they looked like Spike's eyes. In fact, those where his eyes.
The slayer frowned at the thought of him. It had been three months since she saw him load up in Becket's expensive car and drive off into the early morning. She had spent the day worry about the sun getting him, as he stupidly decided to travel when the sun was out, but Catherine had assured her of the car's safety from that very thing. She looked for his return every day for a month, then every couple of hours the second, and now every time she came out, she looked to the drive to see if the vehicle was returning. It always greeted her the same way. Empty.
Surprisingly, she found herself missing him. He had been her only company that she could trust for so long that it felt wrong that he wasn't around. She needed someone who she could fight with, verbally and physically, who was on the same level as her. Catherine tried to fill in as a sparing partner, and, for a human, she was good, but Buffy still had to take it easy on her. After all, she was still the slayer and she had the slayer strength. Catherine did not.
Then there was Dylan. Three months in baby time is, like, a life time. He missed her getting strong enough to sit up on her own. He missed her learning to crawl. He missed her growing up. Babies don't stay babies forever. Pretty soon, she would be walking and talking, celebrating her first Halloween - though Buffy knew how the undead hated that holiday - her first Thanksgiving - an American holiday she fully intending on exposing her daughter to just like she had the Forth of July - and her first birthday. If he didn't come home soon, he'd miss all that. She didn't want him to miss it. It wouldn't be fair to Dylan, or him.
"Do not worry, Buffy," Catherine said as if she could read her mind. "He will return soon."
"I hope so," the blonde confessed. "Dylan is growing up so fast....She'll be driving and off to college before you know it."
"I think you still have awhile to wait for that," Catherine said smiling. "And I am also fairly certain he will have returned by then."
Buffy gave a small laugh, realizing she was jumping the gun a bit.
"Yeah, you're right," she sighed. "Why don't we go see if dinners ready yet. How 'bout it, Dylan? You want to eat." The child giggled at her mother. "That's what I thought you'd say," Buffy said as she and Catherine turned and went back in the house.
******
Lang was practically glowing when she saw that familiar blond hair from the perch she had in the woods. It was her. It could only be her. And that child she was holding as she talked to the black hair woman, that was her baby, the one they had searched for over a year for. She could hardly contain her excitement as she turned back to the agents that Travers had sent along with her when she said they might have a lead. He had sent her with them to make sure there were no screw ups this time, and she fulfill intended on there not being any.
They were all identically dressed in long overcoats, with black jeans and shirts to match underneath. She didn't know how they were burning alive in the outfits. All she had on was the black shirt and pants and she was already about to die.
The leader looked at her for conformation that they had found there target. Lang drew in an excited breath and said, "It's her."
He nodded his head and turned back to the group. "We move in at o' one hundred hours. Remember, the objective is to bring in the slayer, the vampire, and the baby out alive. Terminate anyone else that might stand in the way."
The all nodded their heads in agreement as Lang added, "Remember, the vampire will not be able to fight back due to that chip in his head, so he should be fairly easy to capture. However, the slayer is fully capable of taking us out. You men should focus mainly on drugging her first." She turned back and looked at the house, whose lights were starting to come on one by one. "I'll take care of the child."
******
Nightmares plagued her dreams yet again that night. This one was different, an old one she had been having since she escaped from the island. She could see Willow fighting Glory and winning. She felt such pride for her friend as she stood down the woman as bravely as she ever could, only feel horror as Glory grabbed her and pulled her through some portal Willow herself had opened. Buffy sat strait up in her bed, suppressing a scream that hung heavy in her throat.
Her room was completely dark then, except for a faint, yellow light that glowed from the nursery. Buffy pushed the silk sheet off and went to investigate. Rosemary had fallen asleep next to the crib that Dylan slept it, the older woman having a colorful children book open in her lap. The blonde smiled at the sweet sight, and decided it best not to disturb them. Instead, she walked back through the French doors and closed them behind her as she headed back to bed to try and sleep again.
But something felt off in the house and she was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute. She tried to ignore it, but, the longer she lay in the bed trying to sleep, the more powerful it became. Finally, she gave up and decided to see what could be causing such a feeling. She would never get to sleep if she didn't.
Buffy quietly opened the door and stepped into the hallway. It looked dark and mincing as she had ever seen it, but she pushed it aside as she began to go in search for the off feelings origin. Thanks to her navy blue pajamas, she blended more into the shadows then she would have normally, though why that seemed important she didn't know.
She crept down the main stair well that lead into the foyer, her feet growing cold against the well polished black and yellow marble floor. Something, or someone, was defiantly there. What she had hoped was only her imagination suddenly became very real when she entered the main security office. Sitting behind the surveillance camera equipment was Juan, Becket's head of security, with his throat slashed. He hadn't even been able to get out a scream.
Buffy gasped, not actually having seen a dead human body in so long that she had forgotten how sickening one looked like. Slowly, she backed away from the open door; the light from inside flowing over her, exposing her to anyone came along. And someone did. Five of them to be exact, dressed completely in black, quickly formed a circle around the slayer.
"What? Surplus store have a sale on ninja outfits?" she asked dryly. They were really too big to be ninja's, but it was the only thing she could think of at the time.
She did know one thing; there wasn't enough room to fight here. If she wanted to stand a chance, she would have to lead them outside, or at least to a larger room, preferable one as far away as possible from Dylan.
She attacked the man that stood between her and the rest of the hall first, knowing that she could lead them away if she just get down it. Buffy quickly did a round house, knocking the man to ground, just as she ran over him and the rest of the group followed close behind. Using every ounce of her slayer speed, she darted through the dark home that she had thankfully finally learned the layout of, leading the men through corridor after corridor. Finally, she ducked into green house/garden that was attached to kitchen.
It was one of those creepy old green houses that had a knack for appearing in ghost movies now a days. Its cast iron frame, with fogged window walls except for the ceiling that was clear glass, and a large fountain with a statue of a young woman standing in the middle of the dark water set directly in the middle, provided her new battle ground.
Buffy never liked to come in here. One, even in the middle of the night, it was still much to hot for her taste, and two, this place gave off major wiggin vibes. Hopefully, with it being so dark except for the moon light, they'd get the creeps and she could use that to her advantage.
She tucked herself into one of the darker corner were a large batch of bushed provided covering, and watched as the five men, one limping now from being trample, came inside. The man at the head of the group, obviously the leader, pointed to two of the men to go check out the other side of the greenhouse as he and the other two checked the side Buffy hid in. The little blonde pulled in tightly to herself as the three slowly crept along the stone pathway, their heads turning from side to side as they searched for any movement. She watched through a small brake in the bush as they passed her by.
When they were passed her, she reemerged from her hiding spot and attacked from behind. The one on the back right side spotted her movements first, but only in time to see the back of her fist smash into his face, breaking his nose on contact. The other two swung around to see what was happening, as Buffy kicked the man in the stomach, then through him into the man on the left. The two crashed into one of the rose bushes, each yelping in pain as the thorns tore into their flesh.
The leader attacked her head on, with a blur of punches and kicks flying at her head. She ducked and dodged, trying to land her own on, but failed to. The two men in the rose bush scrambled to their feet and charged. She dropped to the ground, half trying to avoid them, half avoiding a well placed kick. One of the men tripped over her, knocking his head hard against the brick pathway, which cracked his skull. The other joined with his friend, giving Buffy a two sided fight.
The slayer leapt high into the air, kicking the man whose nose she had broken in the chest. The force was so great, that he flew backwards through one of the windows, shattering it as he passed through.
The man in charge hit her twice in the face, once from the left, once from the right, but the blows weren't even as hard as the ones that Spike had given her in the sparing matches.
"You know, I would say you hit like a girl," she said as she caught his fist mid air. "But that would be insulting to my gender." She smashed her head into his face, knocking the man back as she head back for the entrance.
The man roared slightly as he leapt after her, knocking her to the ground with him on top of her. She rolled onto her back, and he sat on top of her, using all his weight to hold her down. He quickly grabbed both her arms and locked them over her head, and the other two men seemed to appear out of no where to assist.
They were stronger then they looked, holding down the slayer as she struggled to free herself from them.
"I guess you guys have been eating your Weatties," she said mockingly as she tried to pull herself free, but failed. She really was out of practice.
One of the men who joined him reached into his pocket, pulled out a black case, and popped it quickly. Inside, was a needle filled already filled and ready to go. Her eyes widen as he prepared to use it.
"Have I mentioned I'm the fondest person of shots?" she asked lamely.
The man with shot descended upon her bare arm, and Buffy drew in her bottom lip as she prepared for the sting. Then, a shot blasted through the green house, echoing loudly, as the man who sat on top of her head basically disappeared from his body. The remains loosen its grip on her, and slid off to the side as the three look in carnage at the event. Buffy sat up slightly and saw Becket standing at the door way, a shot gun in hand that was still smoking.
He raised it again at the other two men, who knew they didn't stand a chance against the weapon. She used this distraction to her advantage and jammed the needle into the mans knee that held it. He cringed in pain as she leapt to her feet and the other man got to his, as she punched him hard in the face. Both men were unconscious seconds later and she ran to join her friend.
"Thanks," she said as he held the door open for her.
"As you American's might say, no problem," he answered as he shut the door behind her. "Now, come on. Let's get the other and get the bloody hell out of here."
"Couldn't agree more."
******