The Ghosts That Haunt Me: An Alias/Buffy Crossover
By: Sam Lincoln
Rating PG-13
Summary: A Rambaldi prophecy sends Sydney to Sunnydale in search of "The Chosen One."
Spoilers: General spoilers for the current seasons of Alias, Buffy and Angel, but nothing specific to any storyline.
Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy and Angel are property of Mutant Enemy. All characters from Alias are property of Bad Robot and Touchstone Television. All characters are used without permission and no infringement is intended.
The Ghosts that Haunt Me: Chapter Five
Sydney walked through the halls of SD-6, surveying the damage caused by the attack. From one of the labs she thought she heard the sounds of someone crying. Curious, she stuck her head in to see what was going on. Inside the room she saw Marshall standing in front of a large computer. "Marshall? What's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, Sydney, hi, uh, it's nothing," he tried to wipe the tears from his eyes without Sydney noticing.
"Come on Marshall, I could hear you out in the hallway, what's wrong?"
"No, you'd think it's silly," Marshall stuttered.
"I would not," Sydney grabbed Marshall by the shoulders, "Marshall, I'm your friend, tell me what's wrong."
"Ok, well you know how IBM made that super computer called Deep Blue? Which they named after the computer in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Deep Thought, and their corporate nickname, Big Blue. Anyway, IBM has Deep Blue, so I called our mainframe Wide Red, as sort of an homage…"
"Marshall, you're babbling, focus."
"Right, well, the problem is Wide Red went boom during that power outage, and I can't seem to get him working again. He's dead Sydney. He…" Marshall started to cry, "He lost everything: the hardware is shot. I looked inside and the motherboards are toast, the CPU's are fried, it's all gone."
"Gee Marshall, that's really too bad," Sydney told the tech as sympathetically as she could.
"You don't get it, I built WR. I watched him grow from a little nothing into the most powerful mainframe on the Net."
Sydney reached out and awkwardly hugged Marshall. "There, there, you'll get to build Wide Red's replacement and I know it'll be bigger and faster. Maybe you can call it Big Pink."
"You think so?" Marshall sniffled.
"I know so," Sydney encouragingly said.
"You probably think this is all very silly."
"Marshall, no, I told you I wouldn't. It's perfectly understandable. Once when my bike broke I bawled my eyes out."
"But how old were you?"
"I was eight," Sydney admitted. "But Marshall, this was something you built, of course you're going to feel sad, otherwise you wouldn't be the Marshall we all know and love."
A faint blush crept up Marshall's face. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"Did it work?" Sydney asked with a smile.
"Well…yeah," Marshall admitted.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Design an even better computer, one with better safeguards."
"That's my boy."
"Thanks Sydney," Marshall said.
"Don't mention it," Sydney replied before walking out of the lab.
Sydney then headed for Sloane's office, where she had a meeting schedule. "I'm sorry I'm late," she told Sloane when she arrived. 'I ran into Marshall and…"
"Yes, I've also spoken to Marshall about our little incident."
"He's pretty broken up about it."
"As well he should be. He was supposed to design a computer that could withstand an EMP attack," Sloane groused.
"In Marshall's defense sir, all our systems failed, even the shielded ones," Sydney protested. She could see the anger burning behind Sloane's calm exterior.
"Very true, unfortunately. It seems we were guilty of the sin of pride. No matter, we've identified a weakness and now we can correct it."
"Do we have any idea as to who did this?" Sydney asked. She well knew who did, and privately was amazed the operation had gone so smoothly, but it was the logical question to ask.
"We…I believe it was the work of the law firm, Wolfram and Hart."
"But aren't they the people we worked out the trade with?"
"This is true but it seems that Wolfram and Hart had different plans. While the power was out both the amulet and the text disappeared, along with Ms. Morgan."
"Why would they do that though?"
"I id a little digging into our associates at Wolfram and Hart. It appears that they are not on the side of the angels. My research indicates that this law firm is quietly backing the vast majority of the major crime and terror syndicates in the world."
"So you want me to go infiltrate Wolfram and Hart, retried our property and cripple their operation?" Sydney asked.
Sloane shook his head, "Until we have our support systems back on-line I don't want to put any of my agents in the field. Even if the target is just across town. Don't worry Sydney, Wolfram and Hart might have won this round, but they have not won the war."
"What do you need from me then sir?"
"I want you to start planning a reprisal attack. Marshall tells me it will take him two days to get up and running. I want to make them hurt as soon as possible after that."
Sydney nodded, "I'll get right on it." She stood to leave then paused "Sir, if I may ask one more question."
"You may."
"What happened to the girl mentioned by Rambaldi? How did she fair in the attack?"
"She didn't," Sloane replied, "We released her before the attack took place."
"Ah, lucky for her," Sydney commented.
"Yes, lucky," Sloane stared straight at Sydney. "It occurs to me that this is the second time in as many days that you've asked me about this girl."
Sydney shrugged, "She was intertwined with a Rambaldi prophecy. I've spilled enough blood over Rambaldi's legacy so I want to know as much as possible, to make sure there are no surprises."
Sloane nodded, "A wise decision, though in this business curiosity can get you into trouble, never forget that."
"I'll keep that in mind," Sydney replies before walking out of the office."
Buffy woke up and found herself in a hotel room, "Where am I now?" She asked no one in particular.
"Relax Buffy, you're safe," She heard Giles say.
Buffy turned on the bed and saw her watching sitting in a chair next to her. "Giles, you're here…wherever that is." She looked around the unfamiliar settings.
"Angel's hotel actually, we brought you here so you could strength. Do you remember what happened?"
"Of course I do. Some idiots captured me, tortured me, and then tried to sell me. But you rescued me and now I'm going to go kill them."
"Yes, and while I agree with those sentiments I'm afraid there's a more pressing matter to attend to."
"You mean the people who have the amulet?"
Giles blinked in surprise, "Erm, yes, them."
"You didn't think I was paying attention…uhm, how long was I out?"
"Twenty-four hours or so," Giles replied. "You needed your rest it seems."
"Well I'm all rested up and ready to deliver some patented Buffy-style ass kickings."
"Then we should go downstairs, everyone is waiting for you."
Giles lead Buffy down to the lobby where Willow, Xander, Riley, Vaughn, and the Angel Investigations team were n fact waiting. "Hey guys," Buffy said to the group, "been keeping busy?"
"Other than saving you from the bad guys, nah, we've just been chillin," Xander quipped.
"And thank you for that."
Willow walked over to Buffy and gave her a hug. "Buffy, I'm so glad you're safe."
"I bet I'm more glad," Buffy observed.
"I already called Dawn to let her know you're ok," Willow said.
"Thanks," Buffy looked over at Angel, "And thanks a lot Angel, I really do owe you one."
Angel shook his head, "No you don't."
"You can keep saying that, but it still won't be true," Buffy told Angel. "Ok, I don't know any of you people," she said to Gunn, Fred and Vaughn.
"Oh right, Fred, Gunn, this is Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," Angel said. "Buffy, this is Gunn and Fred. They work with me."
"Fred huh," Buffy said as she shook their hands, "Boy, I guess your parents hated you."
"Like you can talk, Buffy," Fred replied.
"Ohh, quick with the comeback, not bad," Buffy smiled. "Hi Cordy," Buffy said, noticing Cordelia for the first time. "I like your hair."
"Hi, uh, Buffy is it?" Cordelia replied.
"Yeah, that's been my name for as long as you've known me."
"And I feel sorry for you for that," Cordelia paused. "Before you ask I apparently ascended to a higher player a couple of months ago, and when I came back, poof no memory. So even if you think we've got some rapport, we don't. And don't even think about using my amnesia as a lame attempt to get in my pants," she glared at Xander.
"My name's Vance," Vaughn said. "I'm an associate of Sydney's."
"When you say associate you mean spy, don't you?"
If Vaughn was taken aback by Buffy's directness he did not show it. "I suppose I do, though I don't spend much time in the field."
"Say guys, why don't we go somewhere else to talk about…something," Willow said. "That doesn't involve Buffy, or Angel," she elbowed Xander and the pair walked out of the lobby. Slowly everyone else took the hint and walked off in various directions, leaving behind Angel and Buffy.
"So, together again," Buffy said, stating the obvious.
"How've you been Buffy?" Angel asked. "Last time I saw you was after that whole dead thing."
"Angel," Buffy started to say. She closed the distance between them. "I really wasn't in my head then…I wasn't really in my head for a long time after that."
"That's understandable. I wasn't exactly sane either time I came back from the dead."
"Yeah, well, I did some…people I really shouldn't have." Angel raised his eyebrows at Buffy's admission but did not say anything. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I did a lot of dumb things last year."
"And does that include our conversation?"
Buffy stared straight into Angel's eyes. "Angel…I…no, it doesn't," she broke eye contact and stared at her feet. "It's just…"
"Life has moved on?" Angel supplied. "We meet new people."
"Well, yeah, first there was Riley, and now…there's somebody else I'm not sure about…but I think what's best for Buffy right now is no-relationship Buffy."
Angel looked thoughtful for a moment, "You're probably right, but also probably the only worse time to be talking about this would be the actual Apocalypse."
Buffy smiled, "You know me, Ms. Inopportune-moment Girl." Buffy hugged Angel, "And thanks again for bailing me out yesterday."
Angel shrugged, "I'm a champion, it's what I do."
"Ok Will, you can come back in now," Buffy shouted.
Willow and the others crept back into the lobby, "We weren't eavesdropping," Willow insisted.
"The crazy witch speaks for herself," Cordelia said, "Angel, we're going to have to talk later."
Buffy stared at Angel, "Cordelia, you've moved on to Cordelia?"
"As amusing as this little drama is, my I remind you all that the Amulet of Rambaldus is still in play," Giles sternly said before Angel had a chance to reply.
"We need to wait for Sydney to get here before plotting our next move," Vaughn insisted. "We wouldn't want to run into SD-6 while we're trying to get the amulet."
"Speak for yourself," Buffy grumbled. "I want to go another round or three with those guys."
"That would be a bad idea, SD-6 tends to get revenge with a bullet to the head," Vaughn cautioned.
"Many have tried, all have failed," Buffy said.
"Still, I don't like surprises like that, it's bad for the heart. Besides, it's not like these people can do anything with the amulet. It needs the Slayer's blood to work right? And the Slayer is standing right in front of us." Vaughn saw the downcast look on Buffy's face. "What?" He demanded.
"To say there's only one Slayer is not quite accurate," Willow admitted, cutting Buffy off.
"How? No, wait, I don't want to know." He pulled out his cell phone and punched a number into it. "It's me, as soon as you hear this get over to the hotel, there's a wrinkle that requires immediate attention." Vaughn hung the phone up. "Ok, now tell me about this second Slayer."
"Can I see your phone?" Riley asked Vaughn. He dialed a number into the phone, "Base it's Finn, I need you to fax over the Faith file, hold on." He cupped his hand over the phone. "Where's your fax machine?" He asked Fred who lead him into the office.
"I'll let Riley explain," Buffy said. "He probably knows where she is now."
Faith sat in her cell staring that the flag gray wall in front of her. She did that a lot. Unlike most of the long-time residents Faith kept her cell bare. She liked it that way. This was her punishment, not her dorm room.
The cell door opened and the looming bulk of a guard filled the doorway. "You've got a visitor, "The guard rumbled.
Faith raised her eyebrows, no one visited her, "Who is it?" She asked as the guard lead her to the visitor's room.
"Your lawyer," the guard replied.
"My lawyer? I don't have a lawyer."
"You do now," the guard said as he pushed Faith into the visiting room and closed the door behind her
"Hello Faith," Lilah said, "It's so nice to see you again."
Sydney walked into the Hyperion; she found Buffy and Vaughn sitting in the lobby. "I got here as soon as I could, what's wrong."
Vaughn looked p from the papers he was reading. "There's another Slayer."
"What? How is that possible?" Sydney asked, thunderstruck by this revelation. "I thought you got a new Slayer when the old one died."
"You do," Buffy said.
"So how?"
"I died," Buffy flatly replied. "I died fighting a vampire. Xander and Angel brought me back, but I was dead for a couple of minutes."
"Which was enough for a new Slayer to be summoned," Sydney concluded.
"Exactly, so now there are two Slayers."
"Where is she?"
"You're never going to believe this, but prison," Vaughn said. He handed Sydney a piece of paper.
Sydney glanced at the sheet. "Murder?"
"Faith killed a man," Buffy explained, "It was sort of an accident, but she did not take it well. Se went rogue for a while, tried to kill a lot of people, and now she's paying for her crimes."
"We have to get her out of there," Sydney declared.
"Sydney, I know. Agent Finn is on the phone right now working out a transfer to CIA protective custody."
"Great, she can have a cell right next to my mothers," Sydney sourly observed.
Riley walked into the lobby and handed Vaughn his cell phone. "We were too late, Faith's gone."
"What is a prison break?" Sydney asked.
Riley shook his head, "They arranged for her to be 'evaluated' by an outside psychologist. She walked out of prison without anyone saying boo."
"Well, what's plan B?" Buffy asked the agents.
Sydney thought for a moment then looked at Riley, "I want a divorce." She told the startled agent.
"Ok, here's my plan," Sydney said after the rest of the group had assembled. "Wolfram and Hart has a Slayer they can bleed. We need to find out where they're holding her and the only place to get that information is their office."
"Not a problem," Angel said, "I break into there all the time."
"I was thinking something a little more subtle," Sydney replied. "I'd like for you and Buffy to break in and start breaking stuff. We can give you some toys to make the job a little more fun."
"You want us to be the distraction while you do your spy thing," Buffy concluded.
"Precisely, Riley and I will pose as a couple looking for a divorce and while everyone is focused on Angel and Buffy we'll get the information we need. Vance, you handle the radio net."
"What about us?" Willow asked.
"Just hang out, this should not take long."
"I have a question," Xander asked. "What if these lawyers get a picture of you and Soldier-boy together, wouldn't that make things uncomfortable for you?"
"That's a good point," Sydney mulled over the problem for a moment, "Willow, how'd you like to go to class for me?"
"Uh, sure, but there's no way I could pass myself off as you."
"Isn't there a spell or something you could cast to alter your appearance?"
Willow squirmed in her seat, "Well there are but…"
"Don't worry Willow, I'm sure Angel and I can perform the necessary incantations," Giles said, coming to Willow's rescue. "So what you're suggesting is that we place a glamour on Willow to make her appear to be you and then send her somewhere public, so you appear to be in two places."
"Exactly."
"Well, ok, but I hope I don't do anything to piss off your friends, or get you in trouble," Willow stammered.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine," Sydney said reassuringly.
"Angel, do you want us to find Conner? We might need his muscle," Gunn suggested.
Angel shook his head, "No, I don't want him to get involved, it's too risky."
"What about Wesley?" Fred asked.
Angel's face darkened. "Wesley's made his decisions, what he wants to do is his choice. I'm not reaching out to him."
"So what the hell are we supposed to do while you're off playing Secret Agent Man?" Gunn demanded.
Angel shrugged, "I don't know, try beating up Xander, I always found that fun."
"Now wait a minute," Xander protested.
"Hey, focus people," Buffy snapped. "Angel, why don't you tell Sydney where she should look to find out where Faith is." Buffy paused, "Wait a second, who's Conner?"
"Angel's son, didn't you know that?" Cordelia said before Angel could reply.
"Angel's son, right, and I'm assuming he's not a vampire you sired?" Angel shook his head. "Alright, well, if he's not going to help us with Faith then I can't care about him," she glowered at Angel, "For now. We'll have a nice long talk later." She turned and faced Sydney. "Ok, so what do we need to do?"
Three hours later Sydney and Riley walked into the lobby of Wolfram and Hart. They were both dressed in expensive, yet understated clothes. The few pieces of jewelry Sydney wore were simple, yet elegant. To the trained eye they practically screamed wealth beyond measure.
Sydney approached the receptionist. She pushed her now honey blonde hair out of her eyes. "Hello," she said with a southern accent. "Who can I talk to about getting a divorce from this despicable Yankee I had the misfortune of marrying."
"Oh, there you go again, bringing that up, like that's the reason you're such a nagging harpy," Riley shot back in a Boston accent.
The receptionist looked between the pair standing in front of her and smiled; bitter divorces meant only one thing, money. "I'll call up to Mr. Flanagan, he is the resident divorce expert."
"What, a junior partner, at lest? Absurd, I demand we see a senior partner with the firm. I only deal with lawyers whose names are on the corporate letterhead," Riley protested.
Dollar signs practically danced in front of the receptionist's eyes. "I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Hart and Mr. Wolfram specialize in other areas of the law. Mr. Flanagan is a very good lawyer, and one of the best divorce lawyers in the country."
"Did you hear that honey," Sydney said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "The best, and you know how you always have to have the best."
"I know I do in my whores," Riley sneered, his meaning clear.
The loud smack was clearly audible over the radio and Angel winced slightly as he listened to Riley and Sydney's progress. "You told her to do that didn't you," he said to Buffy. At that moment the pair was hiding in a sewer tunnel underneath Wolfram and Hart, waiting for Sydney and Riley to get into position.
"Well yeah, I did," Buffy admitted. "But I didn't tell Riley to call her a whore." Silence fell over the pair. "So that's the whole story about your kid?" Buffy asked suddenly.
Angel nodded, "Pretty much."
Buffy didn't reply for a long while, "So how exactly should I feel about this? Because to be honest I'm drawing a blank."
"You don't have to feel anything, what we had is in the past."
Buffy stared at Angel, "And does saying that out loud make it any more true?"
Before Angel could reply the sounds of Riley and Sydney talking to a lawyer came floating over the radio. "They're ready, let's go," Angel said.
Sydney half-listened as Flanagan, the divorce lawyer, droned on about the intricacies of divorce proceedings. She answered his questions as promptly as possible. No, they did not have a pre-nuptial agreement; true love needs not such arrangements. Yes, Riley would be represented by his family's lawyer. AS the conversation continued Sydney found herself wondering if Flanagan knew the actual nature of his law firm, or if he was just doing his job.
A red light on Flanagan's phone began to blink, "Excuse me for a moment," he told Riley and Sydney before picking the phone up. "Look, I have two very strong potential clients is it…I see, I'll be right there." He hung the phone up. "I'm sorry, but we're having a little bit of a crises with another case." Just then a siren began to sound. "If you'll excuse me, there's nothing to worry about." Flanagan slipped out of the office.
The two agents took that as their cue to leap into action. "Okay, we've got five minutes until the lawyer can get back," Sydney informed Riley.
"Remind me to never get a divorce," Riley commented as he walked around the desk and access the computer.
Sydney smiled, "At least this way you have a leg up on the competition. See what you can find on the network and plant the sniffer. I'll tend to Ms. Morgan's office."
"Be careful," Riley cautioned as Sydney left the office.
Once outside Sydney walked down the hall, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The corridor appeared deserted and Sydney figured that everyone was trying to deal with Angel and Buffy, or cowering in their offices. Sydney followed the directions Angel had given her and she soon found herself in front of an oak door with the name "L. Morgan" engraved on it.
Sydney tried the door and to her relief she found that it was unlocked. She opened the door and ducked into the office.
"Who are you?" A stern voice asked. Sydney spun around and saw an older woman staring at her.
"Sorry, I had an appointment with Mr. Flanagan and I went to the little girl's room," Sydney said, slipping into her cover. "And then there was all this ruckus and now I think I'm lost."
"Mr. Flanagan works in the domestic department. You're currently in the special projects department," the secretary said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Sydney walked over to the secretary. "I'm awfully sorry, but you've got such a big place, it seems like it would be easy to get lost in."
"There are directional signs posted on every hallway," the secretary replied, her voice heavy with disapproval.
"Well maybe you could tell me how to find my way back." Before the secretary could respond Sydney laid her out with a right cross. Sydney then withdrew a syringe filled with a fast-acting, short-lived anesthetic from her purse. She injected the secretary with the anesthetic and then entered the inner office.
Sydney immediately walked over to the computer and plugged in a new network cable into the network connection. She booted the computer up and let Marshall's hacking module do the work for her. Within a matter of seconds she had access to the computer.
"Thank-you Marshall," Sydney whispered as she instructed the module to search for anything to do with Rambaldi, Faith or Buffy. In Flanagan's office Riley was attaching a similar device to Flanagan's computer to give them a second access point to Wolfram and Hart's network. Sydney added a few additional keywords to her search criteria then powered down the computer. The module could continue the search with the system nominally off.
Sydney then quickly scanned the office, looking for any sign of a safe, a date book, or anything else that might tell her where the second slayer was. Her eyes fell onto a PDA plugged into the computer and she hastily plugged a capture device into the digital assistant. After a few moments the device signaled it was finished with the data dump. Sydney glanced at her watch; the anesthetic would wear off soon. She rushed back into the outer office and dragged the secretary behind her desk. With any luck the memory influencing aspect of the drug would remove the encounter with Sydney from the secretary's mind and she would think that she dozed off. Sydney closed the door to the office behind her just in time to hear the secretary begin to wake up.
"This is Belle, I'm returning to Beast's location," she said into her radio. "Robin and Marion, you can return to the forest."
Buffy was tossing a security guard into a cluster of his companions when she heard Sydney over the radio. She looked over at Angel who nodded his comprehension. "This was just a warning, if you bastards every try to buy me again. I'm going to have to some serious damage." Buffy told the security camera watching her. "Ok, get us the hell out of here," she told Angel.
Angel ran over to a nearby elevator and pulled the doors opened. "Come on Buffy," he yelled. Buffy ran straight into Angel sending them both into the darkness of the elevator shaft. Angel grabbed hold of the elevator's cable and Buffy grabbed hold of Angel. "Going down," he announced as he loosened his grip on the cable, sending them plunging downwards. He ignored the pain as the steel cable sliced into his hands and instead focused on regulating their descent.
"Uh Angel," Buffy said, "We have a problem,"
"What is it?"
"Somebody called the elevator."
Angel tightened his grip on the cable and saw that they were still descending. "No, this is good, we can ride the cable down to the car and figure out what do next when we're in it. Don't worry, we won't go squish."
Buffy stared at the approaching mass of the car below them. "If you say so."
When it was close enough Angel and Buffy dropped on the top of the car. Buffy opened the service hatch and suddenly the elevator ground to a halt.
"We're between floors, this can't be good," Angel noted.
"No, it's not, the car is full of explosives, and I think we just tripped some trigger," Buffy exclaimed.
"Quick, put those explosives on the brakes the cable, I have a plan."
"Great, because the last one worked out so well," Buffy groused as she placed the small C4 charges Sydney had given them on the elevator's emergency brakes and the cable.
Angel reached up and grabbed the cable. He then pulled himself up a short distance. "Are you ready?" He asked Buffy.
"All set," Buffy replied.
"Ok then, jump!" Angel ordered.
Buffy jumped up and held on tight to Angel. She had rather quickly figured out his plan. Before detonating the explosives she kissed Angel on the cheek, "For luck," she explained as she pushed the detonator switch.
There was a series of loud bangs and the cable, free of the weight of the car, shot upwards, taking Angel and Buffy with it. Without the counter-balancing forces of the cable, and facing the sudden loss of half its emergency brakes the car lurched towards the ground. The momentum gained was enough to cause the remaining brakes to fail and the car began to plummet. Buffy watched as the explosives inside the car detonated, sending a fireball racing up the elevator shaft.
The blast wave from the explosion caught up with them first, tossing them around like falling leaves. Buffy reached out with one hand and caught hold of a service ladder to steady the pair. She watched as the fireball reached its apex, then receded down the shaft. She then looked over at Angel, who was still holding onto the cable. "Some plan," she observed.
Angel looked down at the burning wreckage. "Thanks, now let's get the hell out of here." He let go of the cable and let Buffy pull him over to the ladder. They climbed down to as close to the wreckage as they dared and then slipped out of the building by the way they came in.
Sydney had just entered Flanagan's office when the fire alarm began to sound. No sooner had Sydney sat back down in her seat than Flanagan came running into the office.
"What is the meaning of this?" Riley demanded.
"Now please, relax, there's nothing to worry about, there's a slight fire in another section of the building, but we're not in any danger."
"Oh my god, the building is on fire?" Sydney shrieked.
"It's really just a minor thing, there was a little elevator mishap."
"The elevator?" Sydney howled. "We rode the elevator up here!" Sydney rushed over and clutched Riley.
"What I want to know Mr. Flanagan is what sort of cut-rate operation allows fires to break out in their offices and endanger the lives of their clients in such a reckless fashion. Come along dear, we're leaving." He held out his hand to Sydney.
"Certainly, I'm sure we can find some other law firm that can help up without killing us in the process," Sydney sniffed.
Riley reached into his pocket and withdrew a carefully folded money clip. "I believe this should cover your hourly rate." He tossed the clip at the stunned lawyer. "Good day sir," Riley and Sydney strode out of the office.
Lilah's cell phone chirped, breaking her train of thought. "Lilah Morgan," she barked into the phone. "Yes. What? Did they get far? Ok, so are we still secure here or should we relocate?" She paused. "You're sure? Alright, keep me informed if anything else happens." She hung her phone up.
"Who was that?" Gavin asked.
"The office," Lilah replied. "It seems that Angel and Buffy broke in, apparently in an attempt to pay us back for our attempt to buy the Slayer."
"Did they find out about Faith?"
Lilah shook her head, "They never came close to my office."
"Thank goodness for small favors huh?"
"Precisely, but they must know why we wanted the Slayer, it would be foolish to think they'd forgotten about Faith."
"So what are you going to do about it?" Gavin asked. "Seeing as this is your operation."
Lilah opened her cell phone back up. "It's Morgan, send out another squad to the site," she paused, "And tell me secretary to send out my PDA, it's on my desk." She put the phone away. "Does that answer your question?"
"If the Slayer and Angel find out where we are an extra squad won't make much difference," Gavin noted.
"I know, but it will slow them down, and that's all we need, time." Lilah looked down at Faith. She was strapped to a table with IV tubes running in and out of her arms. Mystical symbols covered her body, and lying next to her was the amulet of Rambaldus. "Once Rambaldus rises it won't matter what Angel, or the Slayer tries."
To be continued
By: Sam Lincoln
Rating PG-13
Summary: A Rambaldi prophecy sends Sydney to Sunnydale in search of "The Chosen One."
Spoilers: General spoilers for the current seasons of Alias, Buffy and Angel, but nothing specific to any storyline.
Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy and Angel are property of Mutant Enemy. All characters from Alias are property of Bad Robot and Touchstone Television. All characters are used without permission and no infringement is intended.
The Ghosts that Haunt Me: Chapter Five
Sydney walked through the halls of SD-6, surveying the damage caused by the attack. From one of the labs she thought she heard the sounds of someone crying. Curious, she stuck her head in to see what was going on. Inside the room she saw Marshall standing in front of a large computer. "Marshall? What's wrong?" She asked.
"Oh, Sydney, hi, uh, it's nothing," he tried to wipe the tears from his eyes without Sydney noticing.
"Come on Marshall, I could hear you out in the hallway, what's wrong?"
"No, you'd think it's silly," Marshall stuttered.
"I would not," Sydney grabbed Marshall by the shoulders, "Marshall, I'm your friend, tell me what's wrong."
"Ok, well you know how IBM made that super computer called Deep Blue? Which they named after the computer in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Deep Thought, and their corporate nickname, Big Blue. Anyway, IBM has Deep Blue, so I called our mainframe Wide Red, as sort of an homage…"
"Marshall, you're babbling, focus."
"Right, well, the problem is Wide Red went boom during that power outage, and I can't seem to get him working again. He's dead Sydney. He…" Marshall started to cry, "He lost everything: the hardware is shot. I looked inside and the motherboards are toast, the CPU's are fried, it's all gone."
"Gee Marshall, that's really too bad," Sydney told the tech as sympathetically as she could.
"You don't get it, I built WR. I watched him grow from a little nothing into the most powerful mainframe on the Net."
Sydney reached out and awkwardly hugged Marshall. "There, there, you'll get to build Wide Red's replacement and I know it'll be bigger and faster. Maybe you can call it Big Pink."
"You think so?" Marshall sniffled.
"I know so," Sydney encouragingly said.
"You probably think this is all very silly."
"Marshall, no, I told you I wouldn't. It's perfectly understandable. Once when my bike broke I bawled my eyes out."
"But how old were you?"
"I was eight," Sydney admitted. "But Marshall, this was something you built, of course you're going to feel sad, otherwise you wouldn't be the Marshall we all know and love."
A faint blush crept up Marshall's face. "You're just saying that to make me feel better."
"Did it work?" Sydney asked with a smile.
"Well…yeah," Marshall admitted.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Design an even better computer, one with better safeguards."
"That's my boy."
"Thanks Sydney," Marshall said.
"Don't mention it," Sydney replied before walking out of the lab.
Sydney then headed for Sloane's office, where she had a meeting schedule. "I'm sorry I'm late," she told Sloane when she arrived. 'I ran into Marshall and…"
"Yes, I've also spoken to Marshall about our little incident."
"He's pretty broken up about it."
"As well he should be. He was supposed to design a computer that could withstand an EMP attack," Sloane groused.
"In Marshall's defense sir, all our systems failed, even the shielded ones," Sydney protested. She could see the anger burning behind Sloane's calm exterior.
"Very true, unfortunately. It seems we were guilty of the sin of pride. No matter, we've identified a weakness and now we can correct it."
"Do we have any idea as to who did this?" Sydney asked. She well knew who did, and privately was amazed the operation had gone so smoothly, but it was the logical question to ask.
"We…I believe it was the work of the law firm, Wolfram and Hart."
"But aren't they the people we worked out the trade with?"
"This is true but it seems that Wolfram and Hart had different plans. While the power was out both the amulet and the text disappeared, along with Ms. Morgan."
"Why would they do that though?"
"I id a little digging into our associates at Wolfram and Hart. It appears that they are not on the side of the angels. My research indicates that this law firm is quietly backing the vast majority of the major crime and terror syndicates in the world."
"So you want me to go infiltrate Wolfram and Hart, retried our property and cripple their operation?" Sydney asked.
Sloane shook his head, "Until we have our support systems back on-line I don't want to put any of my agents in the field. Even if the target is just across town. Don't worry Sydney, Wolfram and Hart might have won this round, but they have not won the war."
"What do you need from me then sir?"
"I want you to start planning a reprisal attack. Marshall tells me it will take him two days to get up and running. I want to make them hurt as soon as possible after that."
Sydney nodded, "I'll get right on it." She stood to leave then paused "Sir, if I may ask one more question."
"You may."
"What happened to the girl mentioned by Rambaldi? How did she fair in the attack?"
"She didn't," Sloane replied, "We released her before the attack took place."
"Ah, lucky for her," Sydney commented.
"Yes, lucky," Sloane stared straight at Sydney. "It occurs to me that this is the second time in as many days that you've asked me about this girl."
Sydney shrugged, "She was intertwined with a Rambaldi prophecy. I've spilled enough blood over Rambaldi's legacy so I want to know as much as possible, to make sure there are no surprises."
Sloane nodded, "A wise decision, though in this business curiosity can get you into trouble, never forget that."
"I'll keep that in mind," Sydney replies before walking out of the office."
Buffy woke up and found herself in a hotel room, "Where am I now?" She asked no one in particular.
"Relax Buffy, you're safe," She heard Giles say.
Buffy turned on the bed and saw her watching sitting in a chair next to her. "Giles, you're here…wherever that is." She looked around the unfamiliar settings.
"Angel's hotel actually, we brought you here so you could strength. Do you remember what happened?"
"Of course I do. Some idiots captured me, tortured me, and then tried to sell me. But you rescued me and now I'm going to go kill them."
"Yes, and while I agree with those sentiments I'm afraid there's a more pressing matter to attend to."
"You mean the people who have the amulet?"
Giles blinked in surprise, "Erm, yes, them."
"You didn't think I was paying attention…uhm, how long was I out?"
"Twenty-four hours or so," Giles replied. "You needed your rest it seems."
"Well I'm all rested up and ready to deliver some patented Buffy-style ass kickings."
"Then we should go downstairs, everyone is waiting for you."
Giles lead Buffy down to the lobby where Willow, Xander, Riley, Vaughn, and the Angel Investigations team were n fact waiting. "Hey guys," Buffy said to the group, "been keeping busy?"
"Other than saving you from the bad guys, nah, we've just been chillin," Xander quipped.
"And thank you for that."
Willow walked over to Buffy and gave her a hug. "Buffy, I'm so glad you're safe."
"I bet I'm more glad," Buffy observed.
"I already called Dawn to let her know you're ok," Willow said.
"Thanks," Buffy looked over at Angel, "And thanks a lot Angel, I really do owe you one."
Angel shook his head, "No you don't."
"You can keep saying that, but it still won't be true," Buffy told Angel. "Ok, I don't know any of you people," she said to Gunn, Fred and Vaughn.
"Oh right, Fred, Gunn, this is Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," Angel said. "Buffy, this is Gunn and Fred. They work with me."
"Fred huh," Buffy said as she shook their hands, "Boy, I guess your parents hated you."
"Like you can talk, Buffy," Fred replied.
"Ohh, quick with the comeback, not bad," Buffy smiled. "Hi Cordy," Buffy said, noticing Cordelia for the first time. "I like your hair."
"Hi, uh, Buffy is it?" Cordelia replied.
"Yeah, that's been my name for as long as you've known me."
"And I feel sorry for you for that," Cordelia paused. "Before you ask I apparently ascended to a higher player a couple of months ago, and when I came back, poof no memory. So even if you think we've got some rapport, we don't. And don't even think about using my amnesia as a lame attempt to get in my pants," she glared at Xander.
"My name's Vance," Vaughn said. "I'm an associate of Sydney's."
"When you say associate you mean spy, don't you?"
If Vaughn was taken aback by Buffy's directness he did not show it. "I suppose I do, though I don't spend much time in the field."
"Say guys, why don't we go somewhere else to talk about…something," Willow said. "That doesn't involve Buffy, or Angel," she elbowed Xander and the pair walked out of the lobby. Slowly everyone else took the hint and walked off in various directions, leaving behind Angel and Buffy.
"So, together again," Buffy said, stating the obvious.
"How've you been Buffy?" Angel asked. "Last time I saw you was after that whole dead thing."
"Angel," Buffy started to say. She closed the distance between them. "I really wasn't in my head then…I wasn't really in my head for a long time after that."
"That's understandable. I wasn't exactly sane either time I came back from the dead."
"Yeah, well, I did some…people I really shouldn't have." Angel raised his eyebrows at Buffy's admission but did not say anything. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I did a lot of dumb things last year."
"And does that include our conversation?"
Buffy stared straight into Angel's eyes. "Angel…I…no, it doesn't," she broke eye contact and stared at her feet. "It's just…"
"Life has moved on?" Angel supplied. "We meet new people."
"Well, yeah, first there was Riley, and now…there's somebody else I'm not sure about…but I think what's best for Buffy right now is no-relationship Buffy."
Angel looked thoughtful for a moment, "You're probably right, but also probably the only worse time to be talking about this would be the actual Apocalypse."
Buffy smiled, "You know me, Ms. Inopportune-moment Girl." Buffy hugged Angel, "And thanks again for bailing me out yesterday."
Angel shrugged, "I'm a champion, it's what I do."
"Ok Will, you can come back in now," Buffy shouted.
Willow and the others crept back into the lobby, "We weren't eavesdropping," Willow insisted.
"The crazy witch speaks for herself," Cordelia said, "Angel, we're going to have to talk later."
Buffy stared at Angel, "Cordelia, you've moved on to Cordelia?"
"As amusing as this little drama is, my I remind you all that the Amulet of Rambaldus is still in play," Giles sternly said before Angel had a chance to reply.
"We need to wait for Sydney to get here before plotting our next move," Vaughn insisted. "We wouldn't want to run into SD-6 while we're trying to get the amulet."
"Speak for yourself," Buffy grumbled. "I want to go another round or three with those guys."
"That would be a bad idea, SD-6 tends to get revenge with a bullet to the head," Vaughn cautioned.
"Many have tried, all have failed," Buffy said.
"Still, I don't like surprises like that, it's bad for the heart. Besides, it's not like these people can do anything with the amulet. It needs the Slayer's blood to work right? And the Slayer is standing right in front of us." Vaughn saw the downcast look on Buffy's face. "What?" He demanded.
"To say there's only one Slayer is not quite accurate," Willow admitted, cutting Buffy off.
"How? No, wait, I don't want to know." He pulled out his cell phone and punched a number into it. "It's me, as soon as you hear this get over to the hotel, there's a wrinkle that requires immediate attention." Vaughn hung the phone up. "Ok, now tell me about this second Slayer."
"Can I see your phone?" Riley asked Vaughn. He dialed a number into the phone, "Base it's Finn, I need you to fax over the Faith file, hold on." He cupped his hand over the phone. "Where's your fax machine?" He asked Fred who lead him into the office.
"I'll let Riley explain," Buffy said. "He probably knows where she is now."
Faith sat in her cell staring that the flag gray wall in front of her. She did that a lot. Unlike most of the long-time residents Faith kept her cell bare. She liked it that way. This was her punishment, not her dorm room.
The cell door opened and the looming bulk of a guard filled the doorway. "You've got a visitor, "The guard rumbled.
Faith raised her eyebrows, no one visited her, "Who is it?" She asked as the guard lead her to the visitor's room.
"Your lawyer," the guard replied.
"My lawyer? I don't have a lawyer."
"You do now," the guard said as he pushed Faith into the visiting room and closed the door behind her
"Hello Faith," Lilah said, "It's so nice to see you again."
Sydney walked into the Hyperion; she found Buffy and Vaughn sitting in the lobby. "I got here as soon as I could, what's wrong."
Vaughn looked p from the papers he was reading. "There's another Slayer."
"What? How is that possible?" Sydney asked, thunderstruck by this revelation. "I thought you got a new Slayer when the old one died."
"You do," Buffy said.
"So how?"
"I died," Buffy flatly replied. "I died fighting a vampire. Xander and Angel brought me back, but I was dead for a couple of minutes."
"Which was enough for a new Slayer to be summoned," Sydney concluded.
"Exactly, so now there are two Slayers."
"Where is she?"
"You're never going to believe this, but prison," Vaughn said. He handed Sydney a piece of paper.
Sydney glanced at the sheet. "Murder?"
"Faith killed a man," Buffy explained, "It was sort of an accident, but she did not take it well. Se went rogue for a while, tried to kill a lot of people, and now she's paying for her crimes."
"We have to get her out of there," Sydney declared.
"Sydney, I know. Agent Finn is on the phone right now working out a transfer to CIA protective custody."
"Great, she can have a cell right next to my mothers," Sydney sourly observed.
Riley walked into the lobby and handed Vaughn his cell phone. "We were too late, Faith's gone."
"What is a prison break?" Sydney asked.
Riley shook his head, "They arranged for her to be 'evaluated' by an outside psychologist. She walked out of prison without anyone saying boo."
"Well, what's plan B?" Buffy asked the agents.
Sydney thought for a moment then looked at Riley, "I want a divorce." She told the startled agent.
"Ok, here's my plan," Sydney said after the rest of the group had assembled. "Wolfram and Hart has a Slayer they can bleed. We need to find out where they're holding her and the only place to get that information is their office."
"Not a problem," Angel said, "I break into there all the time."
"I was thinking something a little more subtle," Sydney replied. "I'd like for you and Buffy to break in and start breaking stuff. We can give you some toys to make the job a little more fun."
"You want us to be the distraction while you do your spy thing," Buffy concluded.
"Precisely, Riley and I will pose as a couple looking for a divorce and while everyone is focused on Angel and Buffy we'll get the information we need. Vance, you handle the radio net."
"What about us?" Willow asked.
"Just hang out, this should not take long."
"I have a question," Xander asked. "What if these lawyers get a picture of you and Soldier-boy together, wouldn't that make things uncomfortable for you?"
"That's a good point," Sydney mulled over the problem for a moment, "Willow, how'd you like to go to class for me?"
"Uh, sure, but there's no way I could pass myself off as you."
"Isn't there a spell or something you could cast to alter your appearance?"
Willow squirmed in her seat, "Well there are but…"
"Don't worry Willow, I'm sure Angel and I can perform the necessary incantations," Giles said, coming to Willow's rescue. "So what you're suggesting is that we place a glamour on Willow to make her appear to be you and then send her somewhere public, so you appear to be in two places."
"Exactly."
"Well, ok, but I hope I don't do anything to piss off your friends, or get you in trouble," Willow stammered.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll do fine," Sydney said reassuringly.
"Angel, do you want us to find Conner? We might need his muscle," Gunn suggested.
Angel shook his head, "No, I don't want him to get involved, it's too risky."
"What about Wesley?" Fred asked.
Angel's face darkened. "Wesley's made his decisions, what he wants to do is his choice. I'm not reaching out to him."
"So what the hell are we supposed to do while you're off playing Secret Agent Man?" Gunn demanded.
Angel shrugged, "I don't know, try beating up Xander, I always found that fun."
"Now wait a minute," Xander protested.
"Hey, focus people," Buffy snapped. "Angel, why don't you tell Sydney where she should look to find out where Faith is." Buffy paused, "Wait a second, who's Conner?"
"Angel's son, didn't you know that?" Cordelia said before Angel could reply.
"Angel's son, right, and I'm assuming he's not a vampire you sired?" Angel shook his head. "Alright, well, if he's not going to help us with Faith then I can't care about him," she glowered at Angel, "For now. We'll have a nice long talk later." She turned and faced Sydney. "Ok, so what do we need to do?"
Three hours later Sydney and Riley walked into the lobby of Wolfram and Hart. They were both dressed in expensive, yet understated clothes. The few pieces of jewelry Sydney wore were simple, yet elegant. To the trained eye they practically screamed wealth beyond measure.
Sydney approached the receptionist. She pushed her now honey blonde hair out of her eyes. "Hello," she said with a southern accent. "Who can I talk to about getting a divorce from this despicable Yankee I had the misfortune of marrying."
"Oh, there you go again, bringing that up, like that's the reason you're such a nagging harpy," Riley shot back in a Boston accent.
The receptionist looked between the pair standing in front of her and smiled; bitter divorces meant only one thing, money. "I'll call up to Mr. Flanagan, he is the resident divorce expert."
"What, a junior partner, at lest? Absurd, I demand we see a senior partner with the firm. I only deal with lawyers whose names are on the corporate letterhead," Riley protested.
Dollar signs practically danced in front of the receptionist's eyes. "I'm sorry sir, but Mr. Hart and Mr. Wolfram specialize in other areas of the law. Mr. Flanagan is a very good lawyer, and one of the best divorce lawyers in the country."
"Did you hear that honey," Sydney said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "The best, and you know how you always have to have the best."
"I know I do in my whores," Riley sneered, his meaning clear.
The loud smack was clearly audible over the radio and Angel winced slightly as he listened to Riley and Sydney's progress. "You told her to do that didn't you," he said to Buffy. At that moment the pair was hiding in a sewer tunnel underneath Wolfram and Hart, waiting for Sydney and Riley to get into position.
"Well yeah, I did," Buffy admitted. "But I didn't tell Riley to call her a whore." Silence fell over the pair. "So that's the whole story about your kid?" Buffy asked suddenly.
Angel nodded, "Pretty much."
Buffy didn't reply for a long while, "So how exactly should I feel about this? Because to be honest I'm drawing a blank."
"You don't have to feel anything, what we had is in the past."
Buffy stared at Angel, "And does saying that out loud make it any more true?"
Before Angel could reply the sounds of Riley and Sydney talking to a lawyer came floating over the radio. "They're ready, let's go," Angel said.
Sydney half-listened as Flanagan, the divorce lawyer, droned on about the intricacies of divorce proceedings. She answered his questions as promptly as possible. No, they did not have a pre-nuptial agreement; true love needs not such arrangements. Yes, Riley would be represented by his family's lawyer. AS the conversation continued Sydney found herself wondering if Flanagan knew the actual nature of his law firm, or if he was just doing his job.
A red light on Flanagan's phone began to blink, "Excuse me for a moment," he told Riley and Sydney before picking the phone up. "Look, I have two very strong potential clients is it…I see, I'll be right there." He hung the phone up. "I'm sorry, but we're having a little bit of a crises with another case." Just then a siren began to sound. "If you'll excuse me, there's nothing to worry about." Flanagan slipped out of the office.
The two agents took that as their cue to leap into action. "Okay, we've got five minutes until the lawyer can get back," Sydney informed Riley.
"Remind me to never get a divorce," Riley commented as he walked around the desk and access the computer.
Sydney smiled, "At least this way you have a leg up on the competition. See what you can find on the network and plant the sniffer. I'll tend to Ms. Morgan's office."
"Be careful," Riley cautioned as Sydney left the office.
Once outside Sydney walked down the hall, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. The corridor appeared deserted and Sydney figured that everyone was trying to deal with Angel and Buffy, or cowering in their offices. Sydney followed the directions Angel had given her and she soon found herself in front of an oak door with the name "L. Morgan" engraved on it.
Sydney tried the door and to her relief she found that it was unlocked. She opened the door and ducked into the office.
"Who are you?" A stern voice asked. Sydney spun around and saw an older woman staring at her.
"Sorry, I had an appointment with Mr. Flanagan and I went to the little girl's room," Sydney said, slipping into her cover. "And then there was all this ruckus and now I think I'm lost."
"Mr. Flanagan works in the domestic department. You're currently in the special projects department," the secretary said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Sydney walked over to the secretary. "I'm awfully sorry, but you've got such a big place, it seems like it would be easy to get lost in."
"There are directional signs posted on every hallway," the secretary replied, her voice heavy with disapproval.
"Well maybe you could tell me how to find my way back." Before the secretary could respond Sydney laid her out with a right cross. Sydney then withdrew a syringe filled with a fast-acting, short-lived anesthetic from her purse. She injected the secretary with the anesthetic and then entered the inner office.
Sydney immediately walked over to the computer and plugged in a new network cable into the network connection. She booted the computer up and let Marshall's hacking module do the work for her. Within a matter of seconds she had access to the computer.
"Thank-you Marshall," Sydney whispered as she instructed the module to search for anything to do with Rambaldi, Faith or Buffy. In Flanagan's office Riley was attaching a similar device to Flanagan's computer to give them a second access point to Wolfram and Hart's network. Sydney added a few additional keywords to her search criteria then powered down the computer. The module could continue the search with the system nominally off.
Sydney then quickly scanned the office, looking for any sign of a safe, a date book, or anything else that might tell her where the second slayer was. Her eyes fell onto a PDA plugged into the computer and she hastily plugged a capture device into the digital assistant. After a few moments the device signaled it was finished with the data dump. Sydney glanced at her watch; the anesthetic would wear off soon. She rushed back into the outer office and dragged the secretary behind her desk. With any luck the memory influencing aspect of the drug would remove the encounter with Sydney from the secretary's mind and she would think that she dozed off. Sydney closed the door to the office behind her just in time to hear the secretary begin to wake up.
"This is Belle, I'm returning to Beast's location," she said into her radio. "Robin and Marion, you can return to the forest."
Buffy was tossing a security guard into a cluster of his companions when she heard Sydney over the radio. She looked over at Angel who nodded his comprehension. "This was just a warning, if you bastards every try to buy me again. I'm going to have to some serious damage." Buffy told the security camera watching her. "Ok, get us the hell out of here," she told Angel.
Angel ran over to a nearby elevator and pulled the doors opened. "Come on Buffy," he yelled. Buffy ran straight into Angel sending them both into the darkness of the elevator shaft. Angel grabbed hold of the elevator's cable and Buffy grabbed hold of Angel. "Going down," he announced as he loosened his grip on the cable, sending them plunging downwards. He ignored the pain as the steel cable sliced into his hands and instead focused on regulating their descent.
"Uh Angel," Buffy said, "We have a problem,"
"What is it?"
"Somebody called the elevator."
Angel tightened his grip on the cable and saw that they were still descending. "No, this is good, we can ride the cable down to the car and figure out what do next when we're in it. Don't worry, we won't go squish."
Buffy stared at the approaching mass of the car below them. "If you say so."
When it was close enough Angel and Buffy dropped on the top of the car. Buffy opened the service hatch and suddenly the elevator ground to a halt.
"We're between floors, this can't be good," Angel noted.
"No, it's not, the car is full of explosives, and I think we just tripped some trigger," Buffy exclaimed.
"Quick, put those explosives on the brakes the cable, I have a plan."
"Great, because the last one worked out so well," Buffy groused as she placed the small C4 charges Sydney had given them on the elevator's emergency brakes and the cable.
Angel reached up and grabbed the cable. He then pulled himself up a short distance. "Are you ready?" He asked Buffy.
"All set," Buffy replied.
"Ok then, jump!" Angel ordered.
Buffy jumped up and held on tight to Angel. She had rather quickly figured out his plan. Before detonating the explosives she kissed Angel on the cheek, "For luck," she explained as she pushed the detonator switch.
There was a series of loud bangs and the cable, free of the weight of the car, shot upwards, taking Angel and Buffy with it. Without the counter-balancing forces of the cable, and facing the sudden loss of half its emergency brakes the car lurched towards the ground. The momentum gained was enough to cause the remaining brakes to fail and the car began to plummet. Buffy watched as the explosives inside the car detonated, sending a fireball racing up the elevator shaft.
The blast wave from the explosion caught up with them first, tossing them around like falling leaves. Buffy reached out with one hand and caught hold of a service ladder to steady the pair. She watched as the fireball reached its apex, then receded down the shaft. She then looked over at Angel, who was still holding onto the cable. "Some plan," she observed.
Angel looked down at the burning wreckage. "Thanks, now let's get the hell out of here." He let go of the cable and let Buffy pull him over to the ladder. They climbed down to as close to the wreckage as they dared and then slipped out of the building by the way they came in.
Sydney had just entered Flanagan's office when the fire alarm began to sound. No sooner had Sydney sat back down in her seat than Flanagan came running into the office.
"What is the meaning of this?" Riley demanded.
"Now please, relax, there's nothing to worry about, there's a slight fire in another section of the building, but we're not in any danger."
"Oh my god, the building is on fire?" Sydney shrieked.
"It's really just a minor thing, there was a little elevator mishap."
"The elevator?" Sydney howled. "We rode the elevator up here!" Sydney rushed over and clutched Riley.
"What I want to know Mr. Flanagan is what sort of cut-rate operation allows fires to break out in their offices and endanger the lives of their clients in such a reckless fashion. Come along dear, we're leaving." He held out his hand to Sydney.
"Certainly, I'm sure we can find some other law firm that can help up without killing us in the process," Sydney sniffed.
Riley reached into his pocket and withdrew a carefully folded money clip. "I believe this should cover your hourly rate." He tossed the clip at the stunned lawyer. "Good day sir," Riley and Sydney strode out of the office.
Lilah's cell phone chirped, breaking her train of thought. "Lilah Morgan," she barked into the phone. "Yes. What? Did they get far? Ok, so are we still secure here or should we relocate?" She paused. "You're sure? Alright, keep me informed if anything else happens." She hung her phone up.
"Who was that?" Gavin asked.
"The office," Lilah replied. "It seems that Angel and Buffy broke in, apparently in an attempt to pay us back for our attempt to buy the Slayer."
"Did they find out about Faith?"
Lilah shook her head, "They never came close to my office."
"Thank goodness for small favors huh?"
"Precisely, but they must know why we wanted the Slayer, it would be foolish to think they'd forgotten about Faith."
"So what are you going to do about it?" Gavin asked. "Seeing as this is your operation."
Lilah opened her cell phone back up. "It's Morgan, send out another squad to the site," she paused, "And tell me secretary to send out my PDA, it's on my desk." She put the phone away. "Does that answer your question?"
"If the Slayer and Angel find out where we are an extra squad won't make much difference," Gavin noted.
"I know, but it will slow them down, and that's all we need, time." Lilah looked down at Faith. She was strapped to a table with IV tubes running in and out of her arms. Mystical symbols covered her body, and lying next to her was the amulet of Rambaldus. "Once Rambaldus rises it won't matter what Angel, or the Slayer tries."
To be continued