Part 10. Kicking Ass, Taking Names.
A/N: Reviews are like gold to me, people.
Buffy looked around the room.
Most people were up and it was only early. She looked over to where Willow, Fred and Logan were working. She doubted that they had gone to bed at all.
She hadn't, once Elissa was asleep, Buffy had stayed in her room and worried, trying to come up with a plan of action.
Towards sunrise she'd actually started to have some good ideas.
She walked casually over to what Dawn had dubbed 'The Computer Center'.
Willow perked up a little when she saw Buffy. "Hey."
"Morning." Buffy answered, "How's it going?"
"We have all of the systems linked and the computer is scanning for frequencies." Logan answered.
Buffy smiled. "Good. Go to bed." "What?" Willow asked.
"Go to bed, you've been up all night. Get a few hours sleep and then you can work again." She answered.
The three of them looked gratefully at her. They left before she could change her mind. On the other side of the room Riley and Angel watched her.
Angel smiled, Buffy's main concern would always be the people she cared about.
Riley glowered, and approached her. "Why did you do that? We need to find Zachariah!"
She stood tall. "If we need to find him so badly why'd you lose him in the first place?" She asked, hands on her hips. "Besides, they've been up all night, they're tired. They deserve a rest."
"At what expense?" he threw back at her.
"At no expense. People don't work as well when they're tired." she fired back at him.
"Oh, yes. Because you're the expert." he mocked her.
"I've been doing this much longer than you have 'Agent Finn'," she spat back. "If you don't like the way I'm running things, then you can take your soldiers and leave. I don't care."
He glared at her.
Angel could see him itching to raise his hand to her.
He moved to her side. "Is there a problem?" he asked smoothly.
Max appeared at Buffy's other side. "I think there's a big one."
Riley raised his hand to slap one of them.
Angel jerked his hand down and over, flipping Riley onto his back.
"Stay down." he snapped.
Buffy and Max stood there amazed. "Why did you do that?" Max asked him quietly.
"I don't believe in hitting women." he answered.
Buffy chuckled. "Are you feeling okay?"
"He would've been outmatched." Angel said to them. Both women laughed.
Buffy leaned down to Riley. "This is a team, and I'm in charge. If you can't play with the others, sit on the bench, but let everyone do their jobs."
**********
Once everyone had eaten breakfast, Buffy called them into the foyer for a meeting.
Everyone sat silently. Waiting for her to begin.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but last night I couldn't sleep. So I began thinking of things, ways that we may be able to defeat Zachariah. I came to one major conclusion, we have to take the fight to him." Buffy began.
Max, Angel and several others nodded.
She paused before continuing. "When we destroyed Adam we had to use some pretty heavy magic. I think we're going to have to use magic on Zachariah as well, but this time, if we can find more people I think it would be better. If we're going to 'remove' a core of pure darkness we're going to need some pretty powerful white magic people. Willow, Tara, Anya, and Giles. I want you to work with Wes to find some spells that might help us. Then your know, ingredients and stuff.
I also want to hit Zachariah with a hard fight. That's not going to be too hard. We've got enough people, with enough skills to do it. We're not holding back, this is all out. We hit hard we hit clean, and we give our magic people a chance to do their job." she finished.
One of the soldiers looked at her. "Never work."
Jondy smacked him around the head. "You weren't asked to tell us if Buffy's plan will work or not."
Giles looked at her. "So we'll re-create the fight with Adam, just on a larger scale."
"That's my plan. I have a few ideas, building on that which may help, though. The fight is going to be on our terms this time." She answered.
Max got up and smacked fists with her. "Bring it on."
Giles nodded. "We could use the spell to summon the spirit of the first Slayer, but use a more powerful circle. Then, once you draw the power center out of Zachariah we'll need another circle to bind and destroy it."
Buffy nodded. "So that's what? Three people to control the cards, and then the others can be used in the binding circle?"
Giles reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're going to be able to do this again, Buffy? Channeling so much power is taxing, to say the least. Channeling it twice may prove to be rather dangerous."
Buffy understood his meaning. "Then at least Elissa will grow up knowing that her mommy loved her."
Riley just chuckled. "You can't be serious."
"Pray tell about what Riley?" she asked him, her tone cool. "About Elissa. Does her father even know she's alive? Does he even care?" He threw back at her.
She paused, composed herself. "That's none of your business."
"What are you going to do if you die? Who's going to take care of that baby then?" he asked her snidely.
"I'm not worried about that, Riley. I have a will, and it dictates who will take care of her in light of my passing. I had it amended yesterday afternoon. I know that Elissa, and Dawn if it comes to that, will be in good hands." she answered him calmly.
"And just who would you trust with the lives of your sister and daughter? Willow? Giles, maybe? Angel? Come on Buffy, I'm running out of choices."
She stared at him, his attempts to belittle her in front of everyone were sinking in under her skin, but she would not give voice to her anger. That was best saved for later.
"Well, Buffy? Who would you trust them too?" he snapped at her, irritated by her lack of an answer.
"Not, that it's any business of yours Riley, but if anything does happen to me I know that Dawn and Elissa will be safe. Especially from you."
"Who have you written in as their guardian, Buffy?" Willow asked. She could not hide the worry in her voice.
"Max. If anything happens to me Max will be their guardian. If something does happen I don't want anyone to contest that." Buffy was silent for a moment. "We have to keep planning for the fight." she couldn't hide the pain in her voice.
"Buffy," Angel began gently, but she cut him off. She already knew what he was going to say.
"Don't. It's not like I actually enjoy discussing the plans for my next death with everyone. Now can we just keep planning this, please?" he tone, although upset to begin with, had become almost a plea by the time she finished speaking.
"Actually I was just going to ask you who Elissa's father is." Angel said to her.
"If we're all alive after this is finished, ask me again." she said to him.
For several days everyone lay dormant, each using their own unique skills to see if they alone could track down Zachariah.
At last, as Logan had predicted, he was found using the frequency scans.
A/N: Reviews are like gold to me, people.
Buffy looked around the room.
Most people were up and it was only early. She looked over to where Willow, Fred and Logan were working. She doubted that they had gone to bed at all.
She hadn't, once Elissa was asleep, Buffy had stayed in her room and worried, trying to come up with a plan of action.
Towards sunrise she'd actually started to have some good ideas.
She walked casually over to what Dawn had dubbed 'The Computer Center'.
Willow perked up a little when she saw Buffy. "Hey."
"Morning." Buffy answered, "How's it going?"
"We have all of the systems linked and the computer is scanning for frequencies." Logan answered.
Buffy smiled. "Good. Go to bed." "What?" Willow asked.
"Go to bed, you've been up all night. Get a few hours sleep and then you can work again." She answered.
The three of them looked gratefully at her. They left before she could change her mind. On the other side of the room Riley and Angel watched her.
Angel smiled, Buffy's main concern would always be the people she cared about.
Riley glowered, and approached her. "Why did you do that? We need to find Zachariah!"
She stood tall. "If we need to find him so badly why'd you lose him in the first place?" She asked, hands on her hips. "Besides, they've been up all night, they're tired. They deserve a rest."
"At what expense?" he threw back at her.
"At no expense. People don't work as well when they're tired." she fired back at him.
"Oh, yes. Because you're the expert." he mocked her.
"I've been doing this much longer than you have 'Agent Finn'," she spat back. "If you don't like the way I'm running things, then you can take your soldiers and leave. I don't care."
He glared at her.
Angel could see him itching to raise his hand to her.
He moved to her side. "Is there a problem?" he asked smoothly.
Max appeared at Buffy's other side. "I think there's a big one."
Riley raised his hand to slap one of them.
Angel jerked his hand down and over, flipping Riley onto his back.
"Stay down." he snapped.
Buffy and Max stood there amazed. "Why did you do that?" Max asked him quietly.
"I don't believe in hitting women." he answered.
Buffy chuckled. "Are you feeling okay?"
"He would've been outmatched." Angel said to them. Both women laughed.
Buffy leaned down to Riley. "This is a team, and I'm in charge. If you can't play with the others, sit on the bench, but let everyone do their jobs."
**********
Once everyone had eaten breakfast, Buffy called them into the foyer for a meeting.
Everyone sat silently. Waiting for her to begin.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but last night I couldn't sleep. So I began thinking of things, ways that we may be able to defeat Zachariah. I came to one major conclusion, we have to take the fight to him." Buffy began.
Max, Angel and several others nodded.
She paused before continuing. "When we destroyed Adam we had to use some pretty heavy magic. I think we're going to have to use magic on Zachariah as well, but this time, if we can find more people I think it would be better. If we're going to 'remove' a core of pure darkness we're going to need some pretty powerful white magic people. Willow, Tara, Anya, and Giles. I want you to work with Wes to find some spells that might help us. Then your know, ingredients and stuff.
I also want to hit Zachariah with a hard fight. That's not going to be too hard. We've got enough people, with enough skills to do it. We're not holding back, this is all out. We hit hard we hit clean, and we give our magic people a chance to do their job." she finished.
One of the soldiers looked at her. "Never work."
Jondy smacked him around the head. "You weren't asked to tell us if Buffy's plan will work or not."
Giles looked at her. "So we'll re-create the fight with Adam, just on a larger scale."
"That's my plan. I have a few ideas, building on that which may help, though. The fight is going to be on our terms this time." She answered.
Max got up and smacked fists with her. "Bring it on."
Giles nodded. "We could use the spell to summon the spirit of the first Slayer, but use a more powerful circle. Then, once you draw the power center out of Zachariah we'll need another circle to bind and destroy it."
Buffy nodded. "So that's what? Three people to control the cards, and then the others can be used in the binding circle?"
Giles reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're going to be able to do this again, Buffy? Channeling so much power is taxing, to say the least. Channeling it twice may prove to be rather dangerous."
Buffy understood his meaning. "Then at least Elissa will grow up knowing that her mommy loved her."
Riley just chuckled. "You can't be serious."
"Pray tell about what Riley?" she asked him, her tone cool. "About Elissa. Does her father even know she's alive? Does he even care?" He threw back at her.
She paused, composed herself. "That's none of your business."
"What are you going to do if you die? Who's going to take care of that baby then?" he asked her snidely.
"I'm not worried about that, Riley. I have a will, and it dictates who will take care of her in light of my passing. I had it amended yesterday afternoon. I know that Elissa, and Dawn if it comes to that, will be in good hands." she answered him calmly.
"And just who would you trust with the lives of your sister and daughter? Willow? Giles, maybe? Angel? Come on Buffy, I'm running out of choices."
She stared at him, his attempts to belittle her in front of everyone were sinking in under her skin, but she would not give voice to her anger. That was best saved for later.
"Well, Buffy? Who would you trust them too?" he snapped at her, irritated by her lack of an answer.
"Not, that it's any business of yours Riley, but if anything does happen to me I know that Dawn and Elissa will be safe. Especially from you."
"Who have you written in as their guardian, Buffy?" Willow asked. She could not hide the worry in her voice.
"Max. If anything happens to me Max will be their guardian. If something does happen I don't want anyone to contest that." Buffy was silent for a moment. "We have to keep planning for the fight." she couldn't hide the pain in her voice.
"Buffy," Angel began gently, but she cut him off. She already knew what he was going to say.
"Don't. It's not like I actually enjoy discussing the plans for my next death with everyone. Now can we just keep planning this, please?" he tone, although upset to begin with, had become almost a plea by the time she finished speaking.
"Actually I was just going to ask you who Elissa's father is." Angel said to her.
"If we're all alive after this is finished, ask me again." she said to him.
For several days everyone lay dormant, each using their own unique skills to see if they alone could track down Zachariah.
At last, as Logan had predicted, he was found using the frequency scans.