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 6
Sydney and Riley entered the Hyperion and found Giles waiting for them in the lobby. "Where's everyone else?" Riley asked.
"Willow is still off on her errand for Ms. Bristow, and Xander went with her to keep an eye on things. Angel's associates are off on their own business, I do not know where, and Buffy and Angel also have not returned."
"I hope they're ok," Sydney muttered.
"What's that?" Giles asked.
"We sort of lost contact with them towards the end of the mission. There was apparently an explosion in one of the elevators," Riley explained to Giles.
"Which was really cool to see up close," Buffy said. The trio standing in the lobby turned and saw Angel and Buffy walked through the basement door.
"Oh thank God," Giles said when he saw Buffy.
"So did we get what we wanted?" Buffy asked Sydney.
"The taps are in place and I was able to download the contents of Lilah Morgan's PDA." Sydney held up the capture device. "Let's see what we got. Do you have a computer hooked up to the net?"
"Yeah, in my office," Angel replied. He lead the group into his office.
"Did you say Xander went with Willow?" Sydney asked Giles as she waited for Angel to start up the computer.
"Yes, he said he would be discrete and keep a safe distance," Giles said. "It was really for Willow's sake. She wanted a familiar face nearby."
"Well, having Willow pose as me was my idea so if something goes wrong I only have myself to blame," Sydney sighed. "Are we ready?" She asked Angel.
"You're connected," the vampire confirmed.
Sydney sat down in front of the computer, "Ok, let's see what the taps have found." Sydney tapped a few keys on the keyboard.
"What exactly are you doing?" Buffy asked.
"All the data the computer taps are collecting gets uploaded to a secure server," Sydney explained. "All we have to do is log in to that server and retrieve the data."
"But isn't that horribly illegal?" Giles wondered.
"Not if we deem them a threat to national security," Riley said. "We're the government Giles, we're here to help you."
"Speaking of government types, where did you buddy Vance go?" Buffy asked Sydney.
"He had to go make a report to his boss," Sydney replied. "We aren't exactly 'on mission' here," she admitted. The computer bleeped causing everyone to look at the screen. "The download is complete," Sydney scrolled down the list of files. "And we have files, lots and lots of files." Sydney turned and faced the group. "This is going to take a while.
Buffy looked at Giles, "Research time?" she asked.
The Watcher cleared his throat, "Yes, and for once I regret saying that. Why don't you assist Sydney and I'll go over the Rambaldi text I brought with me to see if I can find any additional information on the raising ceremony."
"And if there's a way to kill the demon if we're too late?" Buffy asked, voicing what Giles left unsaid.
"Yes, that too," Giles admitted. "But let's not dwell on the what might be's, we have work to do now so let's get it done." Giles picked up the volume of Rambaldi text and began to read.
Willow sat in the classroom and listened with rapt attention to the professor's lecture. She hardly understood a word of it, but she reveled in the comfort of being back within the safe confines of academia. The classroom was one of the few places she ever felt truly comfortable. So even though she was wearing someone else's face it still felt like a homecoming of sorts for her.
When class ended Willow slowly walked through the halls of the building. She missed the student's life she realized. It reminded her a simpler time, when her only concern was getting an A on her social studies project.
"Psst, hey, Will!" Xander whispered, causing Willow to jump in surprise.
"Xander," Willow admonished. "I thought you understood you can't speak to me! I mean, I'm glad you're here, but we can't do anything that might arouse people's suspicions."
"Sorry, I just wanted to see how you were doing," Xander said shamefaced.
"I know you meant well Xander," Willow said comfortingly, she never could stay mad at Xander. "Just next time use the radio."
"Oh right the radio, yeah, that does make more sense," Xander admitted. "Now what do you say about getting the hell out of here?" He suggested.
"Sydney! Hey, Sydney!" Someone shouted at Willow from down the hall.
"Oh great," Willow muttered as she saw a man her age walk up to her. He was about Xander's height with curly, sandy blonde hair. A pair of wire-rimmed glasses were perched on his nose. In sum her reminded Willow of Xander a great deal, and unfortunately it appeared he knew Sydney.
Willow intently searched through her memory. There had been time for them to do a memory transfer, but it had been very abbreviated, providing Willow with enough information to get her to Sydney's class and not much more beyond that. Suddenly a name flashed through her mind. "HI Will," she said as cheerfully as she could. She knew the name, and had the sense that Sydney trusted him, but that was it.
"Where have you been?" Will demanded.
"At class," Willow replied as innocently as she could.
"I knew that, I meant this morning, we were supposed to go jogging. You were gone before I woke up."
"Oh, sorry, something came upat workI guess I forgot to let you know," Willow extemporized.
"Okay, fair enough, who's this guy?" Will asked, indicating Xander.
"Thisthis is AlexI met him on that research trip I took to Sunnydale a couple of days ago."
"I thought you said that was a business trip," Will said in a cautious voice.
"Right, it was, I was doing some research onthisthing for work. So it was a research trip and a business trip all rolled into one," Willow said hastily, trying to explain away her gaffe. She could see that Will did not completely believe her so she tried to end the conversation quickly. "Anyway, Will this is Alex Harris, Alex, this is Will Tippit."
"Tippin," Will said, correcting Willow as she shook Xander's hand. "Are you feeling ok Sydney, you don't seem yourself today."
"I'm fine, I just had a late night, that's all," Willow replied. She wished something would happen to distract Will, like a plague of locusts, or brimstone falling from the sky.
"Alright, will going you be going to dinner with Danny tonight?" Will asked.
Willow sensed he was testing her, she thought back to the conversation with Sydney at Buffy's house. "Danny's dead, what are you playing at Will?" She asked with as much hurt as she could muster.
Will winced, "Sorry Sydney, it's just you weren't acting like yourself, so I had to make sure you were you."
"You never can be too careful," Willow agreed.
"Ok, I've got a job interview I need to get to, will I see you tonight with me and Franky?"
"You bet, you know I love hanging out with you guys." Willow congratulated herself on being as gender unspecific as possible.
"Great then maybe you can explain to Francine why you don't remember her name!" Will exclaimed.
Willow quailed and took a step back, "II can explain," she stuttered.
Xander looked up and down the hallway. When he was sure they were the only people there he laid out the other man with a roundhouse punch to the jaw. "It was a boring conversation in the first place," Xander commented as he picked up the prone man.
"But what are we going to do with him?" Willow asked.
"We take him back to the hotel and let the real Sydney figure that out. It's her friend after all. Now go scout ahead and make sure nobody sees me while I carry this guy down to the car."
"Fascinating, it says here that the Chosen One must willingly giver her blood to se free the demon," Giles read as he walked back into the office.
"Are you sure?" Sydney asked. "SD-6 didn't translate it that way."
"As well they might, it's a difficult passage to translate. I had to go over it several times myself."
"So who's to say you didn't make the mistake?"
"Because I do not make mistakes when translating Latin," Giles insisted.
"It's true," Buffy added, "Giles is like the man when it comes to translating stuff. He is a watcher after all."
"Ok fine, so it says willingly, what does that mean?"
"It means that they cannot simply cut faith and revive Rambaldus, she must agree to it."
"Before you say anything Buffy, she won't agree," Angel said. "I know what you think about her, but if she really wanted to end the world do you think she would have stayed in prison for all of these years?"
Buffy stared at Angel, "I wasn't going to say thatI was merely going to suggest that given Faith's history we still might have a problem."
"We still do have a problem," Giles interjected. "The text just says blood willingly given. It doesn't say for what though."
"To set Rambaldus free," Buffy insisted. "I thought that was obvious."
"Not quite, the actual passage is ambiguous enough to allow for any blood given willingly I'm afraid. And I'm positive that if Wolfram and hart have not figured that out yet, they will soon enough."
"Right, they are lawyers after all," Buffy quipped.
"So you're saying what?" Sydney asked, looking for clarification.
"That nothing's changed," Riley said for Giles, "All they need is a blood sample from a medical exam to release the demon."
"It takes a bit more blood than that, but yes, that's it exactly," Giles agreed. "Which leads me to ask, how close are we to finding Faith?"
"There's a lot of stuff here, but I keep coming across references to a facility in the desert," Sydney reported. "And that includes a notation in Lilah's online date book that she'll be at the facility today."
"A secret location in the desert, sounds to me like the perfect place to summon a demon," Buffy concluded. "Giles, you didn't happen to find out anything about this demon's weaknesses?"
"Other than mentioning its desire to end the world there isn't much else said about the demon Rambaldus," Giles replied. "It doesn't appear to have any special strengths or weaknesses."
"That means I can kill it right?"
"With as much ease as you normally need to kill an eight foot tall winged fire demon," Giles wryly noted.
"Where are your weapons?" Buffy asked Angel.
"Cabinet in the lobby, it's unlocked," Angel replied.
Buffy nodded then walked out into the lobby. She returned carrying a large sword, "Hey, this is a nice one," she observed.
"That's what you're going to use against the demon trying to destroy the world?" Sydney asked in disbelief.
"Yeah why, do you think I'd be better off with an axe?"
"I think you'd be better off with a gun, lots and lots of guns."
"I don't get along with guns, and most of the beasties tend to shrug off bullets" Buffy paused. "You know, that gives me an idea"
Buffy was interrupted by the sound of the main door banging open and Sydney shouting for Buffy. Buffy looked over at Sydney and saw that she was not shouting. "Willow must be back," she realized.
Suddenly a second Sydney burst into the office. "We hit a small snag," Willow as Sydney said.
The group followed Willow into the lobby in time to see Xander enter carrying an unconscious figure.
"Will!" Sydney exclaimed as she rushed over to the sofa Xander deposited the report on.
"Who?" Buffy asked Willow.
"A friend of Sydney apparently," Willow exclaimed.
Will groaned and slowly opened his eyes, "Wha?" He groggily asked when he saw two Sydneys standing in front of him.
"Uh Will, it probably would be a good idea to poof back to you," Buffy quietly pointed out.
"Oh, right sorry." Willow muttered a brief incantation and she reverted back to her normal appearance with flash.
Will's mind, which was already strained by the events of the day decided that this latest development was too much and he slipped back into unconsciousness.
"What did you do to him?" Sydney demanded.
"He ran into Xander and I after your class. He figured out I wasn't you and Xander knocked him out. We brought him here so you could figure out what to do next."
"I don't have time for this," Sydney muttered. "Ok, you two," she pointed at Xander and Willow, "Watch over Will while we're gone. I'll figure out something to tell him when I get back."
"Wait up," Xander said, "Where are you going?"
"To go stop a demon, Buffy's got a plan."
Mojave Desert
Lilah looked down at her watch, "Ok, that should be enough," she instructed a technician standing in front of a tank of chemicals. The technician nodded and shut off the flow of drugs into Faith.
"Are you positive all this is necessary?" Gavin asked. "Let's just cut her throat and be done with it."
"I thought you had more style than that," Lilah derisively replied. "We want Faith on our side right? Then what better way is there than to have her convinced that she willingly freed the demon?"
"It seems overly contrived to me," Gavin retorted.
In reply Lilah picked up a scalpel and slashed Faith's palm. She then placed the bloodied hand on the amulet. "You need to brush up on your Latin, the blood must be freely given."
As the two lawyers bickered neither one noticed that Faith's eyes fluttered open.
Buffy stared at the abandoned hanger complex though a pair of nightvision binoculars, "These things are so cool," she told Riley over the radio, "Can I keep them?"
Riley sighed, "Those are government property, no you can't. Now tell me, what do you see?"
"Looks like maybe twenty to thirty guards, all human. They shouldn't be too much of a problem for us." She glanced over at Angel who nodded in agreement. "Sydney, are you ready?"
"In position," was the terse reply.
"Is everybody else set?"
Angel, Giles and Riley all muttered their readiness into their radios. Willow simply nodded, her face slightly ashen. Xander had objected to being the only person left behind, but Buffy had softened the blow by explaining to him that someone had to call the cavalry if something went wrong.
"Ok, let's do it," Buffy lead Willow and Angel down the small rise overlooking the hanger. Surrounding them for miles was nothing but scrub brush and hard earth. "Like I said, the perfect place to summon a demon," Buffy thought. They came to a stop a short distance from the gate. "Ok Riley, do your thing," Buffy ordered.
Suddenly Riley's black SUV appeared out of the darkness and roared straight for the gate. Without slowing a bit Riley drove the Initiative-modified vehicle into the chain link gate and plowed straight through, drawing a hail of gunfire as he went.
"That's our cue, Angel I want you to take out those guards. Willow stay close to me," Buffy instructed her friend. The trio ran through the now opened gate, unnoticed by the guards who were focused on the SUV. Without saying a word Angel slipped off into the darkness. "Giles, where are we going?" Buffy asked into the radio.
"Just a moment," Giles replied. He was standing over a map of the hanger complex sketched into the sand. Giles closed his eyes and chanted an incantation. One of the building outlines began to glow. "Buffy, the amulet is in the farthest building to your left."
"Thanks Giles, stay there, help out Angel and Riley as best you can, and keep an eye out for anything demony." Buffy looked at Willow, "You heard the man, let's go."
Willow nodded then saw a collection of parked cars. She smiled briefly before raising her arms. "Incendius," she chanted. A blast of energy shot from her outstretched arms. The energy pulse hit one of the parked cars, detonating the gas tank. The force of the explosion caused the rest of the cars to catch fire.
Buffy watched the cars explode, "Way to go Willow, that was damn cool."
Willow beamed, "Thanks it seemed appropriate."
The two friends ran across the complex, lost amongst the gunfire and explosions. They quickly reached the door to the building Giles directed them to. A kick from Buffy was sufficient to wrench the door from its hinges and Buffy and Willow slipped into the building. Once inside the din of the battle raging outside receded into the background.
Buffy looked up and down the hallway they were standing in "Which way do you think we should go?" she asked Willow. They heard a crashing sound emanating from the right side of the hall.
"I vote for that way," Willow said, pointing down the hall towards the source of the noise.
They walked down the hall until they came to a locked door. "I think this is the place," Buffy commented.
They walked down the hall until they came to a locked door. "I think this is place," Buffy commented. She kicked the door and sent it flying inward. "Let me go in first," Buffy told Willow as she walked into the room. "There's no telling what's in here." On cue a shape lunged from out of nowhere and crashed into Buffy, knocking her to the ground. Buffy leapt up to face her attacker. "Faith?" she asked in disbelief when she saw the other Slayer standing in front of her.
"Buffy?" Faith replied in much the same voice, "What are you doing here?"
"We came here to rescue you," Buffy looked around the destroyed room. "But you seem to have that well in hand, by the way, where'd everybody go?"
"They were lightweights, took off at the first sign of trouble," Faith said, slipping back into her old persona. "So, why did you stick your neck out for me like this?"
Buffy shrugged, "It's what I do, you were in danger so I showed up," Buffy pause, "Plus they were trying to raise a big, nasty demon and I couldn't let that happen either."
"Still, after all I did to you" Faith stared at her feet, "That sounded incredibly lame didn't it?"
"Uh guys," Willow said, "I hate to have to break up this touching reunion, but may I remind you there's a gun battle going on outside, and in here isn't all that safe either."
To accentuate Willow's point the barrel of a handgun appeared out of the shadows and pressed against Willow's head. "The witch is right," Lilah said as she stepped out of the darkness, the gun in her hand. "It's dangerous in here."
"Let her go," Buffy demanded.
"I will if you release Rambaldus."
Buffy laughed, "Oh please, I'm not that stupid."
"I'll shoot your friend."
"And if I release Rambaldus he'll kill everybody, sorry Will."
"S'okay," Willow quietly replied.
Lilah stared at Buffy then smiled. "You think you're so smart, but Wolfram and Hart is bigger than me, and they can find someone whose life you value more than the world. I'm sure the answer will come to me at dawn."
"You wouldn't dare," Buffy fumed.
"Of course I would," Lilah calmly replied. "So what will it be, release the demon now, or watch everyone you care about get killed?"
Buffy glared at Lilah, "Alright, you win."
"What, B no!" Faith shouted.
Buffy reached down and picked up a shard of broken glass. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." She stared at the Amulet of Rambaldus. "I think." Buffy walked over to the table the amulet was resting on. She used the shard to cut a deep gash on her hand. The blood flowed from her hand and dripped onto the amulet.
The reaction was instantaneous. The amulet began to glow and vibrate until it exploded, the force of which was sufficient to knock down everyone in the room.
When Buffy's vision cleared she got her first good look at the demon Rambaldus. It stood eight feet high with black, leathery skin. A pair of vicious horns protruded from its head. Powerful muscles rippled under its skin and when the roared row upon row of razor-sharp teeth gleamed in its reptilian muzzle. "I'm free," the demon hissed, "And now this world shall burn." Rambaldus chanted something in a guttural tongue and flames wreathed its hands.
Buffy looked around and picked up the first weapon she saw. "Hey scale boy!" She shouted. "I'm the local fire marshal and flaming hands are definitely against code. You're going to have to put them out." Rambaldus screeched in response. "I'll take that for a no," Buffy shrugged. "Then I'll have to do it." She squeezed the trigger on the fire extinguisher she had picked up and doused the demon in flame retardant chemicals.
"You will pay for that human," Rambaldus growled as it looked down at its extinguished hands. The demon then opened its mouth and spat a fireball in Buffy's direction.
Buffy ducked the fireball and rolled right up to the demon. Before it had a chance to react Buffy stuck the fire extinguisher down the demon's throat and emptied the canister into the beast.
Rambaldus roared in anger and knocked Buffy aside with a swipe of its arm. The Slayer flew through the air and landed next to Faith.
"Do you think that slowed it down?" Faith asked Buffy.
They watched as the demon re-ignited itself and started to set fire to the lab. "No, I think I just made it mad," Buffy said.
"So now we run?" Faith asked as she ducked a piece of fiery rubble.
"Running is good," Buffy concurred. She looked around and saw Willow's face peaking out from the doorway. Apparently Lilah had decided not to stick around and meet Rambaldus face to face. "Willow, could you distract that thing for us?" Buffy shouted.
Willow nodded then readied herself to cast a spell. She stopped when she saw the red handle of the fire alarm. Willow shrugged, then pulled the handle, causing a piercing alarm to sound as well as a downpour of water from the sprinkler system. The sprinklers extinguished the demon again and created a giant cloud of steam that filled the lab.
"That's our cue," Buffy shouted to Faith and the two Slayers ran out of the lab.
"Now what do we do?" Faith asked.
"Don't worry, I have a plan." Buffy picked up a discarded oxygen container and hurled it at Rambaldus. "Hey Fugly," Buffy shouted, "Catch me if you can."
"That's your great plan? Piss it off?" Faith asked in disbelief. The heavy tank had knocked the demon to the ground, but had done no damage beyond that.
Rambaldus turned and faced the door, "Don't worry," Buffy told Faith and Willow, "This is in the plan. It's the part where we run for our lives." The trio ran down the hallway.
"It's gaining on us!" Willow cautioned as they rounded a corner and headed for the door.
"This is some plan B," Faith said as a fireball shot over their heads.
"Trust me, you don't know the half of it."
"Less talk, more run!" Willow gasped.
Buffy broke through the door and the trio burst outside. "Sydney, we're outside, Big Bad is right behind us."
"Roger, I see you," Sydney replied over the radio.
The wall behind Buffy crumbled as Rambaldus smashed his way out of the building. "Fools, don't you know what happens to all those that oppose Rambaldus?"
"They get a lovely parting gift?" Buffy asked.
"They suffer the torment of a thousand years!" Rambaldus bellows. Fire began to encircle him.
"Yeah well, you know what happens to people who oppose me?" Buffy asked. Rambaldus suddenly jerked backwards and fell to the ground. The flames surrounding him flickered away. "They end up dead."
Lilah walked out of the warehouse, gun still in hand. She looked down at the demon's prone form. A large hole was visible between the monster's eyes. "How did you do that?" She asked in disbelief.
"Magic," Buffy replied, "Care to see a little more?" Before Lilah could reply the gun was knocked from her hand by an unseen force. She looked down and saw it lying on the ground, destroyed. "You've lost, now we're going to leave and you won't follow us," Buffy ordered.
Lilah looked around, saw Angel and Riley advancing on her, and no sign of her security force. "Alright Slayer, you won tonight, but don't think for a moment that is going to mean anything tomorrow."
Buffy shrugged, "I'll just have to kick your ass tomorrow night then." She turned and walked towards the gate with the rest of the group in tow. "Is anyone following us?" Buffy asked Sydney.
"Negative," Sydney replied as she looked through the scope of the high-powered sniper rifle she was holding.
"Great, meet us at the rendezvous point. Giles, get the car, I think Riley broke his and I don't want to walk back to LA."
Los Angeles
"So that's it then?" Vaughn asked Sydney. They were going over the report she had file the next day.
Sydney nodded, "Pretty much, I never went to the rendezvous. I hiked out a ways and radioed for a helicopter to pick me up. I called Xander when I got back to LA and told him to let Will go and then went home."
"What happened to Will, you left that part out."
"Well apparently while I was in the desert he and Xander got to talking, hit it off and went bar hopping. I didn't get the whole story, but Will said something about it being a meeting of the Zeppos, whatever that means."
Vaughn chuckled and closed the folder, "So are there any loose ends that could trip us up?"
Sydney shook her head, "I don't think so. Agent Finn is back with his unit?"
Vaughn nodded, "He's on his way to Africa as we speak."
"And the second slayer?"
"Is in a very safe place. You can visit her later if you want," Vaughn paused. "The taps you placed on the Wolfram and Hart network are still active and we've only just begun to analyze the take from them."
"We're sharing everything with Angel Investigations?"
Vaughn nodded, "Most everything. We have learned on thing we won't be sharing. The reason why Sloane won't move against Wolfram and Hart."
"And why is that?"
"It turns out that Wolfram and Hart is one of the major silent partners of the Alliance. You can't exactly go to war with your moneymen."
"I guess Sloane wasn't lying when he said that Wolfram and Hart is a big player in international terror."
Vaughn nodded, "Believe me, we're going to be keeping close tabs on them from now on."
"Lawyers are evil, who knew?" Sydney quipped.
Vaughn smirked, "It's a real shocker huh? Oh, one last question, what about the Sunnydale people?"
"Are you comfortable with the fact that a group of civilians knows about you?"
Sydney thought for a moment, "They have no love for Sloane so I don't see them selling me out to him. And considering the secret they're sitting on I really doubt they'll be running to the press anytime soon."
"Fair enough, but what about Sloane; do you think he'll try anything?"
"When I talked to him yesterday I didn't get that impression"
"But with Sloane you never know," Vaughn said, finishing Sydney's sentence.
"Exactly, that's why I talked to Buffy about it yesterday on our way to the desert."
"And what did she say?" Vaughn demanded.
Sydney smiled, "She said she had a plan."
That night Arvin Sloane walked out to his car with a pair of bodyguards flanking him. Sloane came to a stop when he saw a man dressed all in black leaning against his car.
"Are you Arvin Sloane?" the man asked.
"I've never heard the name," Sloane replied. "Now who are you?"
"Oh, nobody special. I'm just here to deliver a message."
"You're trespassing is what you're doing," Sloane said. He motioned for his guards to take care of the intruder.
The ensuing fight was brief, violent, and ended with Sloane's guards lying in a heap on the ground.
"Now then," the man said, "Let's try this again, are you Arvin Sloane?" As he spoke his face morphed into something inhuman. "And the answer you're looking for is yes."
"Yes, I am," Sloane stammered. His eyes were fixed on thething's prominent teeth.
"You've angered forces more powerful than you can possibly imagine," the beast reached out and grabbed Sloane by the throat. It lifted him up like he weighed nothing. "Stay away from Sunnydale and the Chosen One."
"And if I don't?" Sloane gasped.
The beast tightened its grip on Sloane's throat causing the man to cry out in pain. "Then you will regret it."
Sloane's vision grew fuzzy as his brain was starved for oxygen. Before he passed out his attacker released him and he fell to the ground in a heap. "Don't forget what I've said Sloane. If you harm the Slayer, or anyone close to her you'll pay for it a thousand times over, I promise." The monster's face shifted back to its human guise. "Don't get up, I can find my own way out. And if you doubt me, ask your lawyer friends about Angel. They'll tell you I make good on my promises." Angel then walked off, disappearing into the parking lot.
-The End-