21: We Have Achieved Portality

Josh touched Sam lightly on the shoulder. "It's time."

"Are we ready?"

"I doubt it."

"'Kay."

"CJ's got 'em distracted?"

"Yep."

"Then let's go grab Tribby."

They advanced on the Agriculture Secretary, political faces in place. Josh might be decidedly bad at the kind of poker face Leo was famous for, but he was the one true master of the deceptively befuddled 'I'm not sure what planet I'm on, let alone which meeting this is' face. And Sam... well, nobody could look innocent quite like Sam.

"Mr. Secretary? I don't suppose we could have a private word?"

Tribby smiled benevolently at them. "Well, gee, not that I wouldn't love to chat with you boys, but I'm speaking in a couple of minutes-"

"Oh, this won't take that long," Sam assured him.

"Matter of seconds," Josh agreed. "If you'd just like to step outside with us for a moment...?"

Donna and Buffy swung back around to join the three Watchers at their preparations. "Vamp disposal, check," Buffy informed them brightly.

"And, more surprisingly, no Secret Service following us," Donna added. The whole night had a decidedly surreal flavour; hunting vampires in a party dress while they did the whole girltalk thing. She didn't think that she would ever learn to become as blasé about patrolling as Buffy was - but then, once she'd felt that way about working in the White House.

I guess anything becomes ordinary if you see it often enough.

One thing she would probably never become accustomed to was the sight of Toby Ziegler kneeling on the ground in his tux, making magical symbols with a vial of black dust. He finished what he was doing and stood up, dusting off his knees with a scowl. They all looked at Wesley, who was quietly muttering the words of a spell as he read from a thick brown tome. He finished and looked up, shutting the book with a dull thump.

They all looked at each other. "Is it, um, done?" asked Donna hesitantly.

Giles shrugged and nodded, and Buffy regarded the empty air before them sharply. "Viva le anticlimax," she observed.

"Well, do we have a portal?" asked Toby impatiently. Giles picked up a small stone and lightly tossed it forward. Somewhere in the darkness of the air, it disappeared.

"Big check in the portal column," Buffy said. "Houston, we have achieved portality."

"But the question is, a portal to where?" Wesley worried.

"You're welcome to step through and find out," Giles suggested with a dangerous smile. Donna was struck by the change wrought in him by the upcoming confrontation. Gone was the stutteringly gentle-hearted scholar, nervous mannerisms replaced with a kind of powerfully edgy tension.

"I think perhaps I'll pass on that," said Wesley dryly. His eyes flickered back towards the building. "Are they coming?"

Donna glanced at her watch. Josh had been told when to get Tribby - adjusting for the known suckiness of his watch, of course - and he and Sam would be leading him out of the building by now. "They're on their way."

Giles straightened up. "Then let's be ready for them when they get here."

Tribby frowned at the pair of them as they led him out to the prearranged point. "My, this is conspiratorial," he observed jovially. "It's all very exciting, but I really don't have long before-"

"It's okay, Mr. Secretary, we're right here," Josh told him, as he glimpsed Giles's tall figure in the dimness ahead.

Tribby looked puzzled, taking a few confused steps forward. "Mr. Lyman, Mr. Seaborn, I'm really not sure what you're trying to-"

All of a sudden, Buffy stepped out of the dark before them. She stood with her head tilted to one side, smirking slightly. "Mayor Wilkins - fancy meeting you here. Remember me?"

"Ms. Summers - so we meet again." His voice was dark and steely - and then, suddenly, he started to laugh. "I've always wanted to say that," he told Josh gleefully. Turning back to Buffy, he slipped his hands into his pockets. "My, this is a surprise. Still, it's lovely of you to come for the big event. It's a wonderful opportunity to deal with all that nasty unfinished business from last time."

His smile was as blandly avuncular as ever - but there were knives behind his eyes.