Author
JMD_009
jmd_009@yahoo.ca
Disclaimer
See Prologue
~~~~~
Sunnydale
It was just past ten in the morning when Rupert Giles lay down in the warm embrace of his bed. Most people are up and on their way by now but not so for the unemployed brit. Truth be told he was just getting there after a long night of research. Buffy had brought a ring she got off a demon on patrol and research ensued to determined its origin. The ring turned out to be… an ordinary ring. A cubic zirconium ring at that. Better safe than sorry on the Hellmouth though.
His exhausted state made the ringing phone that much more of an annoyance. He seriously considered ignoring it, but got up anyways. It could be one of the children.
Giles sleepily walked to the kitchen and grabbed the phone. Trying to stifle a yawn he asked. "Hello?"
[Rupert Giles?]
"Yes?" He asked wearily. Something about the man's tone was off.
[My name is Officer George Davis. I'm with the NYPD.]
All his exhaustion seemed to flow out of him as he felt worry creep inside him. Xander was in New York!
[I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?]
"What about?"
[A boy by the name of Alexander Harris.] Giles felt his chest tighten as he heard that.
[I tried his parents, but they were less than… cooperative.]
"Go on." Giles prodded.
[Late last night Alexander and some friends were attacked in Central Park. At the moment he is considered missing. We found his wallet at the scene. It had your contact information on a card listen as 'in case of emergency' in it. That's why I'm calling you.]
Giles grabbed the counter for support as he listened to the officer. "Missing?"
[I'm sorry. I… we're going to do everything in our power to find him. I promise.] He sound genuinely concerned, which helped Giles get his bearing back.
"What happened to his friends?"
[I don't think…]
"Please," Giles cut him off. "I need to know."
[They were murdered. Dismembered. It's not a sight that I'll every forget.] Officer Davis told him, the slightest of a waver in his voice.
Giles lent against the wall as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. Dismembered? He shuddered to think of the amount demons prone to that. Not to mention the rituals.
[We still have hope that he is alive.] George continued at Giles silence. [I'd like to ask you some questions about him. See if there is anything that could help with the investigation.]
"Of course." Giles replied. Any thoughts of sleep long forgotten as he silently prayed to every deity he knew of that Xander was safe.
~~~~~
It was a depressed atmosphere as everyone sat gathered in Giles' living room. It was late and the gang had spent the day finding out everything they could about what happened to Xander in New York. Which between Giles conversation with Officer Davis and Willow's hacking was just as much as the cops. They were just better equipped to put the pieces together.
"They were ripped apart. With claws." A shaken Willow said having reading the coroners report.
"That means it's a demon." Buffy added on her way to the weapons chest. "That means we go to New York, kill it, and get Xander back!"
"If he's still alive." Willow said as tears threaten her eyes. She calmed slightly at the comforting arm Oz lent her.
"He is Willow. He wouldn't go down easy."
"All the more reason we get there quickly!" Buffy spoke from her position of emptying the chests more deadly weapons into a large duffel.
Giles shook his head as he stood up to address the group. "You're not going. I'm going to New York alone."
Buffy cleared the distance between them in a heartbeat. "The hell you are!"
"You can't leave the Hellmouth unprotected Buffy."
"Watch me!" She exclaimed with venom.
"Damn it child! You are staying if I have to chain you to a bloody post!" Giles exclaimed back, his face red and his accent a little thicker. A bit of the old Ripper peeking through. He calmed slightly as he saw his young Slayer back down out of shock. Looking around he addressed the room again, much softer this time.
"We can not just take off and leave the Hellmouth unguarded. The fate of the world comes before any one person. Even someone we care for deeply. Xander understood this. You have to too. We can't all go.
"And before you ask why I'm the one who gets to go I'll tell you. I lived there briefly and know my way around. More importantly, I have plenty of contacts in New York, can any of you say the same."
Seeing the looks on his charges' faces was all the answer he needed. "I'm not saying you can't help, you'll just have to help from here. I leave first thing this morning. Trust me! I will find him!"