Disclaimer in Chapter 1.
***
Willow felt disorientated as she and Xander reappeared a few blocks away. Xander caught her as her knees buckled. "Gotta take it easy on those teleportation spells," he chuckled half-heartedly.
"Tell me about it," Willow grumbled. "I've got a headache now."
"Let's see if we can get a taxi and get to Jean-Marc. You still got the address?"
She fished the slip of paper out of the pocket of her jeans. Xander pulled out his cell phone and dialed 411 to get the number for a taxi company. He wanted to get as far away from the CSI headquarters as they could for now. No sense getting arrested again.
Willow leaned on her friend as he arranged for a taxi to pick them up and take them to Jean-Marc and the coven. Maybe they would have some herbal tea and aspirin to soothe the pain in her head. Xander wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she burrowed into his side, taking the comfort he offered.
"That's impossible," Speed insisted vehemently. "People just don't disappear!"
"You saw what we saw," Eric said, sounding a little overwhelmed.
"All I know," Horatio began before anyone could say anything else, "is we have two murder suspects running around. . . somewhere. We need to bring them in again."
"And how the fuck are we supposed to keep them here if they can disappear?" Eric asked.
"We'll figure something out."
Xander and Willow's cab stopped outside a nondescript, two-story, middle-class house. Xander climbed out, then offered Willow his hand to help her out of the vehicle. Keeping his arm around her to steady her he paid the cabbie. Willow was looking forward to some pain relievers and relaxation to get over the strain the teleportation spell had caused her.
Xander steered Willow up the walkway to the front door. He knocked hoping they hadn't gotten the address wrong in all the confusion after their "escape" from police custody.
A pleasant, middle-aged woman with long, black hair opened the door and smiled at the pair. "You must be Willow and Xander."
"That's us," Xander agreed with a lopsided grin.
The woman ushered them in. "I'm Linda. Jean-Marc told us about everything that's happening. You must be exhausted. I don't mean to offend, but you look like you've been through the wringer."
"Feels like," Willow mumbled, pressing a hand to her forehead.
"Willow had to get us out quick," Xander explained. "Spell kinda gave her a headache."
"Oh, we have some Aleve around here," Linda offered. She led them into the den where Jean-Marc was sitting on the couch next to a beautiful brown-haired woman who appeared to be in her mid thirties. There were also four other people – three women and a man – in the room. Linda left to retrieve the pain relievers for Willow.
Jean-Marc gave the two a smile. "Xander, Willow, this is my wife Madeline," he indicated the woman at his side with a gentle squeeze to her hand. "And the others are Mary, Caroline, Robert and Diane," he pointed each out.
Xander nodded a greeting as he gently pushed Willow into an overstuffed chair.
"So how did it go?" Jean-Marc asked.
"That is quite the saga," the young man sighed as Linda returned with two pills and a glass of cool water. Willow took them from her gratefully.
"Tell us what happened," Jean-Marc insisted.
Horatio was telling his investigators where he wanted them searching for the missing suspects. "Speed and Calleigh, I want you to take the blocks to the south. Sevilla and I will take the blocks to the north. Delko and a uniform will be to the west and a pair of uniforms to the east. We'll find our suspects and bring them in."
Xander and Willow sat in the den with Jean-Marc, Madeline, Linda and the other members of the coven. Willow was sipping on herbal tea – willing the remnants of her migraine to leave – while Xander explained what happened. Willow didn't feel like correcting him when he embellished the story. The others got the general idea of what happened anyway.
"At least you were able to destroy the vampire before someone was hurt," Madeline said.
"Yeah, but you're looking at a couple of fugitives. Running from the law. Two hardened criminals," Xander said almost proudly.
Willow resisted the urge to roll her eyes, afraid that it wouldn't help her slowing fading headache. She turned toward an uncovered window and watched the sun sink toward the horizon.
Speed and Calleigh found their first lead on their suspects four blocks from their headquarters. A convenience store clerk thought she recognized the sketches Tim showed. "Yeah I think a cab picked them up right outside maybe an hour ago," the young woman explained.
"Do you remember the name of the company?" Calleigh asked.
"No, sorry."
The detectives thanked her and left the store. "I guess it's better than nothing," Tim groused. "Now we can just go through all the cab companies in Miami to track them down."
Calleigh nudged his arm. "Stop complaining. There could be other witnesses around here that can give us the name of the cab company." He sighed as they headed off to question more people as the sun set.
"Are you sure you're up to patrolling?" Xander asked Willow as he drove the rented SUV toward the crime lab. He wasn't actually comfortable with the thought of heading back there, but they needed to make sure the vamp they dusted was the only one.
"For the fifth time, I – I'm sure. Head pain's gone and I'm in the mood to kick vampire butt," Willow insisted firmly. "The sooner we get this taken care of the better."
"I'm with ya there, Wills."
Willow glanced back at the map she held. "Okay, take a right at the next street."
Tim and Calleigh hadn't made much progress. Three other people had thought they had seen them, but couldn't be sure. Speed was growing more irritated as time wore on. "This is bull-shit. Nobody can be sure if they've seen them or not."
"Tim, most people don't know they're supposed to pay attention to the other people around them just in case they may be a murder suspect," she teased, trying to lighten his mood.
"Very funny, Calleigh." He smiled thinly. "But I get it. Let's try a few more people and if we don't get something definite then we'll head back and start checking cab companies."
Xander and Willow parked a block from where the cab picked them up. They were following Willow's intuition. She had a feeling something was going to happen nearby, and they needed to be there. Xander wasn't willing to argue. They carried their weapons bags as they headed off to see what was going to happen.
Speed showed the sketches to a young man in black leather pants and jacket. He looked to be in his early twenties, and he also looked to be bored with Tim's questions. Calleigh stood beside her colleague and friend. Something was off about the young man and she was sure Tim could sense it too – investigator's instincts for lack of a better term she figured.
Tim put the pictures away and turned to Calleigh. "Guess we'll head back."
Calleigh was about to agree when the young man they were questioning focused on something behind them and grinned wickedly. "Hey, guys. Look, a couple of live ones," he said.
The investigators turned to see who he was talking to when they came face to face with three other men and a woman. All in black leather clothes. The detectives hadn't heard them come up behind them.
"Alright," one of the newcomers sneered.
Willow and Xander saw the group a few yards away. Years of fighting with the slayer had honed their instincts for recognizing trouble.
And this was trouble of the vamp variety.
Tim grabbed Calleigh's arm and moved themselves out of the middle of the group. "I don't think you want trouble," he said, determining the group was unarmed. But that didn't mean they weren't dangerous. He carefully eased himself and Calleigh a little further away.
"Don't be in a hurry, sweetie," the young girl insisted. Tim felt like he was being stalked like an animal as she moved toward him.
Calleigh and Tim moved their hands carefully towards their sidearms.
"Blondie there sure is a cutie," one of the men noted. "Shame she's gonna die."
The group began to move as one toward the CSIs. Tim and Calleigh drew their guns. "Okay, not real bright messing with the police," Tim said forcefully. "Especially when back-up is only seconds away," he bluffed.
"Ooooh, guns," the girl laughed. "Scary."
"Even if we believed you," the young man they had questioned snickered. "What makes you think we're afraid of 'back-up' of the police variety?" he asked as his face changed. So did the others with him. Ridges formed on their foreheads and their canine teeth grew in length. Their eyes changed to a demonic yellow. Calleigh stifled a scream and Tim's eyes widened in shock.
Suddenly the head of one the vampires fell at his companions' feet and turned to dust along with his body. "What about back-up of the slayer variety?" Xander asked as they turned to face him. He backed a few feet away, giving himself a cushion of a few seconds for when they would attack. Because he knew they would. He held a battle-ax firmly in his grip. Willow was by his side with a crossbow aimed at the heart of one of the vamps.
"You're not the slayer," the girl hissed. "Everyone know *she's* in California."
"Yeah," Xander shrugged. "To bad for you she taught us everything she knows. Damn and this was supposed to be a vacation."
One vamp leapt toward him but Willow took him down with a well-aimed crossbow bolt to the chest.
When the vampire that threatened Calleigh moved toward her, the CSI shot him –dead center in the heart. He staggered back in pain, staring at his chest. "Bitch!" he roared and ran at her. Tim yanked her away. Willow shot him in the back and he was dust.
The young girl caught Tim and Calleigh unaware though. "Stop!" she screamed, enraged. She had Tim in position to snap his neck. "I'll kill him," she threatened to the Sunnydale pair.
Willow's eyes turned black as she stared at the female vampire. "Ignis incende," Willow said softly, but with underlying menace.
The vampire screamed as she burst into flames, releasing Tim. Calleigh caught him as he stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Within seconds the girl was a pile of dust.
Speed and Calleigh turned to watch as the last vampire – the one they had been questioning – took off. Xander flung his ax at the fleeing vamp. It imbedded itself in his right shoulder blade. The vampire stumbled, but got up and disappeared around the corner.
"Hey," Xander shouted in frustration. "That's my favorite ax, damn it!"
Willow patted his hand in support. "Buffy will get you another one."
"But I liked *that* one."
"What the fuck was that?" Speed questioned, completely bewildered.
"Were those vampires?" Calleigh asked not sure if she should laugh or cry.
"Maybe we should go somewhere to sit down," Willow suggested soothingly.
The four of them sat in the break room back at the crime labs. Calleigh and Speed had insisted on it, considering they *had* escaped custody and were still wanted for questioning. Willow and Xander reluctantly agreed. Horatio and Eric were with them.
"I know what you're thinking," Xander said.
"Enlighten us," Horatio insisted softly.
"Vampires aren't real, so how could this be happening."
"Right," Willow added. "See those weren't vampires. They were just guys in thundering need of a facial."
Xander smiled, remembering when Buffy had said the same things to them when they first met and discovered vampires were real. "Or maybe they had rabies," he added with a wink to Willow. "Coulda been rabies."
Willow smiled at him. "And those guys and the one in the morgue. They didn't turn to dust. . . just a trick of the light."
"How do you think we felt when we first found out about vampires?" Xander said with understanding. "We were cruising along in our blissfully ignorant teen years. Then we find out they're real first hand. Took the fun right out of the horror movies for me."
"How long have you been fighting – uh, vampires?" Eric asked. He had to admit, he was curious.
"Seven years," Xander answered with an indifferent shrug.
"Who's the slayer that was mentioned?" Tim asked.
"That'd be Buffy," Xander said with a warm smile.
"So you've been fighting vampires since you were what, sixteen, seventeen?"
Willow looked at Horatio. "Sixteen. Why?"
"Just curious."
"And what was that light show in the morgue?" Speed added.
"Will here is a witch," Xander said proudly. Willow blushed as the four CSIs looked at her in disbelief.
"Do you mean that literally, or are you insulting her for some reason?" Speed finally asked.
"Literally."
"Ooh-*kay*."
Tbc. . .
Next chapter: A simple call to Giles explains a lot.
