Rainbow Over Sunnydale Chapter 11
By JoeB
Disclaimer: Red Storm and Tom Clancy own Rainbow and Characters. Joss Whedon owns Buffy and Characters. Anyone else belongs to me. I make no profit of the following except to have a little fun.
Spoilers: Buffy to present. Rainbow to Bear and the Dragon.
Authors note: I am adjusting the Buffy time line slightly, this fic starts just after "Never Leave Me", moving things back about a month.
Notes to Reviewers:
DireWolf757: Thanks for the idea, but I kind of promised ped that I would fix the oops.
LmiC2001: The more the merrier.
Jiltanith: I think you're right.
Fastpilot: Now there might be an idea with D'Hoffyrn.
Ack: Sorry for the delay between chapters. I wish I could get them out quicker but with working a full time job and going to school three nights a week time gets a little tight at times. Thank you for liking the story enough to review. I think that if Clark took the vengeance demon gig his wife would kill him.
Thanks to all that reviewed. Constructive criticisms always welcomed. Flames cheerfully ignored.
Fic starts here*******
"General Clark?" The voice said. John Clark jerked awake and looked around, not immediately recognizing where he was. When he saw Riley standing just out of reach he grunted, "I'm up."
"Fifteen minutes till your watch, General," Riley informed Clark as he crawled out of his sleeping bag.
"Thanks" He headed up stairs to use the bathroom and splash some water on his face. Once he was finished, he came back down the stairs and found Riley in the kitchen pouring a mug of coffee for him.
"Buffy got back in about 0200. She said that she hadn't run into anything else on patrol," Riley told him as he handed over the mug. "She got the coffee stuff out before she went off to bed."
"I'm really starting to like that girl," Clark said as he took the mug and tasted the brew.
Turning to Riley he asked, "Got a couple of minutes?"
"Sure," Riley responded.
"I have a couple of questions on what went down tonight I thought you might be able to answer."
"I'll try," Riley said as he poured himself a mug and added milk to it.
"Willow," Clark began.
"When Sam and I pursued the Suvolte Demon here, she had said that she had picked up a magic addiction and had quit cold turkey. You have to understand how impressive that is. We had two shamans down in Mexico that had gotten addicted and neither was able to overcome it; the addiction killed them," Riley explained. "When Tara was killed, Willow must of gone nuts and supercharged herself. Normally, no one should be able to hit that kind of power level. Rituals by groups of magic users are usually required to manipulate that sort of power."
"We need to consider some contingencies if she becomes dangerous," Clark said.
"Contingencies?" Riley asked. "If you want to deal with her, then on watch tonight go into her room, stand at the foot of her bed, and put a bullet through her brain. She was upset tonight. She may not have placed any wards on her room."
Clark stared at him for a second; then he was right in Riley's face, his eyes almost glowing. "I don't know what you may have heard about me, Captain Finn," he growled. "But I don't murder young women in their beds."
Riley took a step back. "You asked for a contingency, General Clark," he growled right back. "If Willow has half the power that I think she has, by the time we realize we have a problem, Willow will be playing in a whole different league. If you want to do anything about her, tonight's the night."
Clark put his mug down. "Let me rephrase that then. Do you think we NEED to do anything about her?"
Riley didn't hesitate. "If Willow was a threat then Buffy would have taken care of it. You heard them tonight; Buffy was perfectly willing to kill Anya when Buffy perceived that she had become a threat. Buffy takes her duty as Slayer seriously."
"What are the chances that she has cast a spell on them so that they don't view her as a threat?" Clark asked.
Riley considered that for a couple of seconds, "Doubtful. If she were charming people I have to believe she would done us too, especially after the outburst that she did at the table tonight. I don't think that there is a threat, but I could be wrong. I have seen Buffy and Xander under someone's thrall, they are not acting like that now."
"How would they be acting if they where?" Clark asked.
"Much more obiqueous to Willow than they are," Riley answered.
"Alright, we will assume that we are operating with free will," Clark said, "The person who has to make this call is a little over my pay grade anyway."
Taking another drink from the mug, he calmed himself down a little more, and then asked, "Spike?"
Riley took a breath too, and then began, "I'm not the one to ask about Spike. I'm not an objective observer."
"I don't have anyone else I can ask. I'll remember that it might be tainted," Clark informed him.
Nodding Riley began, "The Initiative caught Spike just before Thanksgiving in 2000. He had been in town that year once before, but we weren't able to catch him. We had him in detention, and Dr. Walsh implanted a behavior modification chip in his brain. With it in Spike should be unable to harm humans, the chip will cause crippling pain if he tries."
"This is the chip you mentioned when the subject came up tonight?" Clark asked.
"Yes," Riley confirmed. Going on, "He managed to escape after three or four days in captivity. Somehow he connected with Buffy and the Scoobies. I became aware of his being with them right after I found out something rotten was going on with The Initiative. This did not do good things for my peace of mind."
Clark nodded, understanding.
"Spike was actually on the other side during most of the conflict with Adam. Adam apparently had offered to remove his chip. When Spike finally figured out that Adam was going to kill him too, he came over and helped us in the last battle at the lab.
"Over that summer he didn't hang around much. If he got bored he would go on patrol with Buffy, so he could beat something up; the chip allowed him to attack other demons. Other than that he barely budged out of his crypt," Riley took a long pull off his mug, finishing it. He put the mug in the sink and gathered himself a little. He then unbuttoned his shirt and rolled up his sleeve.
When he held out his arm Clark saw a series of scars on his forearm. "Right before I left Sunnydale I started offering myself as a donor to the local vamps, I'm not sure why, maybe to experience a little of what Buffy had gone through," He said quietly shaking his head, "At first anyway, after a little while the rush was addictive. Buffy found out. I think Spike told her but I can't prove it. She took the nest apart. It was one of the final straws in our relationship."
Clark was shocked; Riley let himself be fed upon? "Is this still going to be a problem?" He asked.
"No once I stopped I never felt the urge to do it again," Riley assured him. Then going on, "When Sam and I followed the Suvolte demon here Sam found that someone had raided the nest and stolen the eggs. We knew that there was a black market operator in the area called 'The Doctor'. Buffy said she would hit her sources. I had some that were still in the area. I went and found out what they knew. Through them I found out that 'The Doctor' was Spike. When I broke into his crypt with every intention of dusting him; I found him and Buffy in bed together," He stopped there again for a second. Then went on, "Buffy didn't want to believe at first that Spike was who we were looking for but a trip to his basement proved that he was. Unfortunatly, Spike didn't know how to keep suvlote eggs safely and they hatched on us. Buffy and I darn near got killed stopping them. We ended up having to kill them all off which made General Billingsly and the oversight committee unhappy because they wanted a sample."
"I thought that the science end of the Initiative had been shut down," Clark asked.
"Suvolte eggs keep indefinitely if kept refrigerated," Riley, explained, "We had hoped to be able to restart the science section within a year."
"Would Spike having a soul make that much difference? I've know plenty of people that reputably have a soul that where absolute monsters." Clark said.
Riley shrugged, "As far as I know there is only one other vampire with a soul. I met him once. If that was him with a soul I would truly hate to run into him with out one."
"Which side is this souled vampire on?" Clark questioned.
"Supposedly ours," Riley returned somewhat taciturnly.
"Let me guess, another Buffy former flame?" Clark asked Riley, a small smile at the corners of his lips.
"All right, yes." Riley supplied reluctantly," The vampire was Buffy's boyfriend for her first year here, most of the second, and her third," Riley supplied.
"What happened in the second year to break them up?" Clark asked.
"He lost his soul," Riley said.
Clark raised an eyebrow as an invitation for Riley to go on.
"Buffy and Angel, that's the vamp's name, had sex. It seems the curse that gave him his soul had a rider. If he was ever truly happy, poof no more soul."
Clark frowned, "How is having a soul a course?"
"Imagine doing the most horrible things imaginable, enjoying the hell out of doing them, then suddenly feeling the guilt associated with the act," Riley shrugged, "Sounds like a curse to me," He opinioned.
"Okay we'll hold off on Spike for a while," Clark said, "Xander?"
"One thing about Spike before we move on. Buffy, if she can find him will try for a rescue. I think we need to support her. If necessary we can always dust Spike at a later date."
"You'd do this to get on Buffy's good side?" Clark asked.
"I would do it to keep her from getting killed again. Once is enough as far as I'm concerned," Riley responded."
Going on, "Xander is hard to describe, He comes across as a goof or a clown but he is someone that's worth having at your back in a fight."
"I didn't have too much of a doubt of that," Clark told him, "The timing on his diversion on the porch was perfect, if we had guns on Buffy, she would have been able to take us down while we were distracted. His timing it so our eyes had been blinded by the porch light was just icing."
Riley was relived that Clark had spotted that; he had been concerned that he would have to convince the general that Xander was worth keeping around.
"He put himself at risk too. He could have been shot before Buffy could do anything." Clark continued, "What I am concerned about though, is his commitment. Will he stick? Or will he duck out on us the way he ducked out on Anya?"
"Xander will stay the course. If anything we will have to keep up with him," Riley assured him, "I never had any doubt about his dedication. I know that he has had woman trouble in the past, so his troubles with Anya seem to be a continuation of that pattern. When it comes to fighting he will be there."
"Okay Riley. Thanks for answering my questions, get some sleep." Clark ordered the younger man, "I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a busy day."
"Yes sir," Riley headed out of the room. At the doorway he hesitated as if he was going to add something, but shock his head and went into the living room.
Clark went through the house learning its layout, and picking up its noises. Once he was sure he would know if something changed in the house, he went back to the kitchen and poured out the rest of the coffee that Riley had made. 'The Army just doesn't know how to make coffee,' he thought to himself. Searching Buffy's cabinets, he quickly discovered that neither did The Slayer.
Sighing he contented himself with making a strong batch of coffee. As it was brewing he went back upstairs to the window he had picked out as his main lookout. He didn't want to stay in the same place that Riley had used.
When he thought the coffee was done brewing he went down stairs and poured himself a mug. Taking a sip he let the hot liquid pour down his throat. It wasn't black gang coffee, but it was strong, which is what he was looking for.
Nothing happened for the first hour of his watch. As he walked past the living room around three a voice came out of the darkness, "Excuse me? I need to go the bathroom, and I am very thirsty."
Clark peered into the room and saw that Andrew had regained conciseness. Entering the room he walked over to the figure tied to the chair. "Will I have any trouble from you?" He asked.
"Ah…er…No," the boy in the chair said, looking up at the large man scowling down at him, "I just need to relieve myself."
Clark just grunted. He reached down and undid the knots that held one of Andrews's arms to the chair. "You can get yourself loose the rest of the way," He instructed him, bringing the MPK around to cover Andrew.
Andrew awkwardly got his other arm untied, and then undid his ankles. Andrew had no clue who this large person was; he had a cool submachine gun though. "Can I get up know?" He asked, trying to appear as cooperative as possible.
Motioning with the gun, Clark instructed him to get up and precede him up the stairs.
Andrew did as he was instructed, "I'm Andrew Wells by the way, and you are?"
"The man with the gun who is letting you use the head," Clark responded.
"I don't know what they told you about me, but I think I should tell you that it is mostly not true. They don't like me you see," Andrew told Clark.
"Tell me your side then," Clark ordered him.
"Okay most of the stuff up till they broke us out of jail was true," Andrew began. Reaching the bathroom door Andrew went to close it, only to be stopped by Clark's foot. "You're going to make me leave the door open?" Andrew asked.
"Unless you want me to tie you to the toilet seat," Clark replied.
"That's okay," Andrew hastily assured him.
"So anyway," Andrew continued, as he sat down on the toilet, "We were down in Mexico, when we got these joint dreams about how to close The Hellmouth. We thought that if we could do this maybe Buffy wouldn't be so hot to hurt us anymore. When we got here though we were attacked by demons. Jonathan and I were doing pretty good fighting back to back. I turned around to tell him that when I saw this huge demon behind me! So I stabbed it. But it was a trick; The First had put a glamor on Jonathan to make him look like a demon. I had killed my best friend, so I ran." Andrew finished his story the same time that he finished his business. Stopping him by the sink he drank several glasses of water.
Clark let him finish then asked, "If you were running, why were you in a butcher shop buying blood?"
"Ah…" Andrew began.
"I'd make an effort to have a better story kid. Cheer up though, you may be one of the few people that can actually use the 'Devil made me do it' defense," Clark told him. He then took a step back and motioned for Andrew to precede him back down the stairs.
Once they got back into the living room Clark looked at the flimsy director's chair that Andrew had been tied to and sighed. Turning to the young man he asked, "Andrew, how would you like to spend the rest of the night laying down?"
Andrew looked the ruggedly handsome John Clark over and said, "Well sure, that would be great."
"Okay," Clark said trying to remember where he had seen that coil of rope. Motioning for Andrew to go first, he found the rope hanging on the basement door. Returning to the living room Clark had Andrew turn around. Clark threw two loops around Andrew's upper arms, tied a set of rope handcuffs around Andrews wrists, he helped him lay down, finally he tied Andrew's ankles and knees.
Clark then went up stairs and found Buffy's linen closet and retrieved a blanket and pillow. He went down stairs and made sure that Andrew was covered, and then returned to his patrol.
After he assured himself that nothing had snuck in while he was dealing with Andrew, Mr. Clark poured himself another mug of coffee and went back to his chair in the upstairs hallway. He sat there sipping from his mug and watching the street. Nothing of interest was happening so he leaned back into the chair and let his ears be his first line of defense. Looking at the doors that led off the hallway, he thought of the young red head that was sleeping behind one of them. He wondered what kind of dreams she was having? Laying there, feeling the weight of almost having the blood of the world on her hands. Almost involuntarily John Clarks thoughts went to a man named Ibrahim Ghosn; he ruthlessly pushed them back down.
A door half way down the hallway opened and a blond head stuck out into the hall. "Do you want to talk?" Buffy asked him.
"Always," John responded, "Shouldn't you be getting sleep though? It sounded like you have a major day planned tomorrow, plus you had that fight tonight."
"I only need about half the sleep that other people need, and tonight wasn't much of a work out," Buffy responded as she came down the hall.
"What do you want to talk about?" Clark asked, getting the ball rolling.
"I thought that since we are the leaders, it might be a good idea to set up some ground rules," Buffy said.
"Not a bad idea," Clark replied.
"What exactly are you planning to do?" Buffy asked, as she leaned against the wall near where
Clark was sitting.
"My orders are to defend The Hellmouth. That just got a lot harder since here is a school on top of it. Plus since Billingsly is planning on ending the word, I don't think that having a school there will slow him down at all.
"Once we get the defenses set up, then I would like to help you out, anyway we can," Clark told her.
"How soon do you think he will make his move?" Buffy wondered.
"I don't know, how hard is it to open The Hellmouth?" Clark responded.
"Depends on how he is planning to do it," Buffy replied, "I haven't seen anyone use the same method twice, so there are a lot of different ways it can be done. We can do some research to find out what way is easiest for them. I never went into the study end that much, that was Giles and the Scoobies department."
"Union rules?" Clark joked.
"Yep, they find out what it is, and I take it apart," Buffy smiled at him.
"I guess we have to wait for the brain trust to wake up then." Clark smiled back.
Then continuing "As for when they will try? I would think a week would be the earliest they could. So I want all my people to be here by Tuesday at the latest. So we can get them up to speed." Clark explained. Buffy nodded.
"Andrew woke up about 30 minutes ago," Clark told her, "He had to use the head, and I let him get a drink. I tied him up again, but I tied him so he could lay down."
"Thanks," Buffy said.
"What are you planning to do with him?" Clark asked.
"I don't know. We can't just let him go." She answered.
"Why not just turn him over to the local police? He is a fugitive," Clark wanted to know.
"We would have to explain how we got him. Last I heard it's illegal to harbor a fugitive, let alone kidnap one. Plus I don't trust the local cops; I've had a couple run in with them. I'm also afraid that The First will find some way to get someone to kill him. Same thing if we just let him go; it would be like throwing a baby duck into a pool filled with piranha," Buffy told Clark.
"Pike," Clark corrected.
"Pardon?" Buffy looked at him, confused.
"Northern Pike, It's a fish that's nastier than piranha." Clark explained.
"I'll take your word for it," Buffy replied.
"I will be talking to my FBI contact as soon as Ding relives me. How about I ask him to send someone up from Los Angeles to take Andrew off of your hands?" Clark asked Buffy.
"It would be nice to get him out of the house. If your contact would do that it would be great," Buffy told him. Suddenly Buffy got a nervous expression on her face, "Uh, if you could forget mentioning the whole kidnapping thing to The FBI that would be even better."
"No problem, I'll just tell him that you apprehended Andrew. Dan Murray is a pretty good guy though, I think he would understand." Clark informed her.
"Who's he?" Buffy questioned.
"He's the director of The FBI," Clark told Buffy, enjoying her expression.
"Yeah that would be a real good idea, not telling him how long we have had Andrew in the house," Buffy readily agreed.
"You're working two jobs to make ends meet?" Clark asked Buffy, changing the subject.
Buffy slightly confused with the switch responded, "Yeah, I work at the Double Meat Palace, and I go in part time as a councilor at the high school. Why?" She asked.
"I'd like to hire you to help train my men in what to expect in the area. My team is so small I can't afford to lose someone to the local wildlife." Clark explained.
"It will be tight," Buffy said. Thinking of her packed schedule, "How much are you willing to pay?"
"Two hundred, if that's all right," Clark responded. He could afford that out of unit funds.
"That would be alright. I can always use the cash. If you want the training to go on much more than a week though I would like more," Buffy informed him.
"Ms. Summers, I think you misunderstand. I meant $200 an hour." Clark told her. Buffy slid down the wall landing on her but.
"You want to pay me two hundred dollars and HOUR to train your people?" Buffy asked, convinced that she had not heard right.
"Don't you think it's a fair amount?" Clark asked.
Buffy hurriedly reassured him, "Oh no! That's perfectly acceptable. How much training do you want them to have?" Buffy asked.
"Initially I thought if you can find Spike tomorrow, we could use his rescue as a training mission for the team. If not then maybe we can do a sweep of the high schools basement. After that I'd like them to be trained at least 2 hours a day. Get them used to what they may be called on to fight."
"Okay, that should be fine. Do you think that this job might still be open once you stop Billingme?" Buffy said.
Clark was confused, "Billing you? What would we be billing you for?"
Buffy blushed, "Sorry I butcher names a lot, this other general I mean."
"It should be," Clark told her.
"Okay, I'm going to put my two weeks in at DMP tomorrow. I would be earning as much in an hour as I would in a week there." Buffy said, "Thanks."
"Don't thank me Ms. Summers. What I am offering you is what I can afford," Clark told her. "I always believe in getting the best Ms. Summers, you certainly qualify.
Buffy blushed, "Could you do me a favor and call me Buffy? Every time you say Ms. Summers I turn around looking for my mom," Buffy requested a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Buffy," Clark agreed.
Buffy got up off the floor, "I think that I am going back to bed. I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night Buffy," Clark said to her.
Clark went back down stairs and finished up the last of the coffee he had made and then made a fresh pot that did not so much resemble paint remover. He then did one final tour of the house. Finishing the tour he returned to his upstairs station and waited till it was time to wake Ding to relive him.
Fifteen minutes before he was do to take over the watch Clark went down stairs entered the living room and whispered, "Ding,"
Ding's eyes instantly snapped open and he looked around the room. Orienting himself he raised himself in the sleeping bag. "Good morning John," He told his father-in-law as he crawled out of the bag.
"Everything is quiet," Clark told him. Ding nodded and started up the stairs, Clark followed him.
"Buffy got in about 0200, nothing new to report," Clark briefed the younger man as he went into the head. "Andrew woke up about an hour ago, I let him use the head and got him a drink. I tied him up on the floor so he could lay down."
"Also I assume to make it a little more difficult for him to escape?" Ding asked as he rinsed his mouth out.
"Yeah, I'm going to see if Dan can send someone not local to take Mr. Wells off our hands." Clark told his son-in-law.
"Okay, I'll keep an eye on him." Ding said. Then turning to Clark, "You stand relieved."
"Okay, I want to check in with Dan before I go back to bed," Clark said.
Going down to the kitchen Clark hung His MPK on the back of a chair and pulled out his cell phone. Pressing one of the speed dial buttons he only had to wait one ring, "Murray," the voice on the other side of the line said.
"Dan, its John Clark." John said into the phone.
The voice on the other end sounded surprised, "What are you doing up? I thought chiefs didn't have to stand watch.
"When the chief in question only has two Indians adjustments must be made," Clark told Dan.
"Didn't find The Slayer huh?" Dan asked.
"No we found her. I'm calling from her kitchen." Clark said as he took another sip of coffee.
"Standing joint watches?" Dan inquired.
"Nope, Buffy doesn't believe in them." Clark told him. "Standing watches allows us to sleep a little better though."
"What ever works," Dan said, "John, I have some bad news. There has been a terrorist strike in London. Someone blew up one of their social clubs. Early indication is that the death toll will be over a hundred. It's my understanding that the place is a just a hole in the ground. The British Government has requested that we hold the second Rainbow team in England on the chance that this is the opening move of a terrorist group. Jack was forced to do it.
"It's not total gloom and doom though. Tony's people went through Billingsly personal records. He seems to have had a real problem with joint operations. The Initiative that he put together after Sunnydale was a pure Army operation. If you need support before Team 1 can get over, it looks like we can pull a SEAL team or two out of San Diego."
"That would be great Dan. I'll let you know if we need them. Could you find out what their ETA would be if we needed them in a hurry please." Clark said.
"Okay, no problem. Now please brief me on what went on tonight there." Murray ordered him.
Clark started with LAX and worked him through getting to Sunnydale. Murray requested that they skip what was discussed in the car, telling him that Riley had probably covered that in his briefing earlier in the day. He did request that John include as much as he could remember in his report though, in case Riley had mentioned something he had skipped briefing The President. When Clark got to finding Buffy in the graveyard Murray wanted details. He was impressed by Buffy's prowess, and glad that neither Clark nor Ding was seriously hurt in the subsequent fight. Clark finished his briefing by telling Dan what had been talked about once they got back to Buffy's place. He did not mention that Willow had tried to end the world last May. He planned to call Jack later today and discuss the situation directly with him.
"Okay let me get this straight, you have Lucifer wandering around out there?" Murray asked Clark, after he had explained about The First.
"If what I understand correctly this isn't him. It's either what gave Lucifer the idea to rebel, or the idea itself. I'm not sure which. All it claims is that it is the first evil that ever was." Clark corrected him.
"Great we have things lining up to end the world." Murray grossed.
"From what I've been told by the locals it's pretty common for that to happen. Billingsly might be in for a bit of a shock, especially if this First thing doesn't like to share. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't play well with others either." Clark said into the phone.
Murray chuckled, "I hope your right. It would be nice if they took each other out."
"Doubt that'll happen. I would settle for one trashing the other." Clark said.
Clark continued, "I put Ms. Summers on the payroll tonight," He told the man with the checkbook.
"How much will she cost us?" Murray returned.
"I got her for training the troops when they get here for two hundred dollars and hour. I'd like to put her on retainer too," told him.
"She only wants two hundred an hour?" Murray asked somewhat shocked, he wished that some of the other independent contractors he was forced to use were as reasonable.
"She thought that I meant two hundred period," Clark explained, "She is after all working for minimum wage, you should have seen her face when she realized I was serious."
"How much of a retainer do you want to have for her?" Murray asked.
"I'd like a thousand a week. If I go more I'm afraid she might think we're trying to bribe her. When it comes time to renegotiate she will probably request more." Clark explained.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Murray told him.
"One other thing. Buffy has a house guest currently," Clark started.
"Okay, what does that have to do with me?" Murray wanted to know.
"They caught him when he came back to town. He's a fugitive; he was working for The First when they caught him, now I'm not too sure. His name is Andrew Wells." Clark told the director of the FBI.
"Let me check," Murray said into the phone. The sound of computer keys could be heard in the background. "Here we go, Andrew Wells, escaped from custody last May. Wanted for attempted robbery of an amusement park. Believed to be traveling with one Jonathan Levienson. Why is that name familiar?" Murray finished, puzzlement evident in his voice.
"Riley says it's better not to go there," Clark responded. The name was familiar to him too.
'Okay," Murray agreed, "Any sign of the other one?" It would be a feather in the cap of the FBI if they could nab a couple of escaped prisoners.
"He's dead," Clark, informed him, "Apparently The First talked Andrew into killing him."
"Add murder 1 to the rap sheet," Dan made a note.
"Why don't they just turn him over to the locals?" Murray asked Clark.
"Buffy has had some bad experiences with them. Plus she's afraid that The First would be able to influence someone into killing him." Clark explained.
"Okay, Pat O'Day is in San Francisco right now working a serial killer case. They're going nowhere right now so why don't I have him come down there and transport the prisoner for you?" Murray offered.
"I have a request though. While Pat is in town I would like him to check out the local office. I went through their reports and they seem to have completely missed the more unusual aspects of the town. I need to know if this is just because they are incompetent or if they are dirty. I would appreciate if you and Ding could backstop him in case they are dirty." Murray requested.
"Sure," Clark replied, "Happy to help."
"Okay then, I'll let you get back to sleep. Unless there is something else?" Murray said.
"One more thing. Willow tonight indicated that she had killed two people last year. I get the impression that this might not be the only crime that they have committed," Clark informed Murray.
"Circumstances?" Murray questioned.
"One of the deceased had killed Willow's Lover Tara McClay. Willow apparently hunted him down and killed him. The other was a pusher named Rack. Willow killed him by draining him of his magic when she ran low. Buffy seems to think, and Riley concurs that this was a case of temporary insanity, a combination of Ms. McClay's demise and absorbing a large amount of magical energy. Buffy informed us that Ms. Rosenberg traveled to England over the summer and was taught by some witches there to control her magic."
"Damn," Dan said with feeling, "I'm going to have to go to Jack with this one John. How dangerous do you think she is?"
"Riley said that if she is a threat then Buffy would have dealt with it," Clark reassured him. "He probably has a point. One of her group reverted back to being a vengeance demon. When there started to be a body count Buffy tried to kill her."
"Body count?" Murray asked alarmed.
"She fixed it. Her ex-boss is trying to kill her though. She is currently camped out on Buffy's sofa." Clark finished.
"Okay. What's a vengeance demon?" Murray asked.
"I don't want to talk about them," Clark replied.
" Okay then goodnight," Dan said, wondering what had Clark worked up on that subject.
"And a good morning to you too Dan," Clark replied, "Goodbye."
Clark put his cell away, then went to the sink and rinsed his mug out. Walking back toward the living room and some more sleep he found Ding sitting in a chair in the dinning room. He was so situated that anyone coming through the front door would have it between Ding and them. Ding had placed his MPK on the dinning room table and had a mug of coffee in hand. "Good night John," He said, "Any time you want to be up?"
"Nine if I'm not up by then," Clark said. Then going on, "Dan Murray is sending Pat O'Day down to take care of Andrew. He's going to be transporting him to LA."
Ding just nodded.
Clark returned to his sleeping bag and crawled in. Despite the coffee he had drank on his watch he fell asleep almost instantly. An indeterminate time later he was awakened by a combination of the throbbing in his hand and the smell of food coming from the kitchen.
Crawling out of the sleeping bag Clark saw that with the exception of Andrew he was the last person up. He started toward the kitchen where those wonderful smells were coming from. His nose told him that it involved eggs, sausage, and something he thought might be salsa. As he headed toward the kitchen he noticed Ding sitting at the dinning room table mopping his plate with a piece of toast. "Try this Mr. C," He said, "Willow is a wicked cook."
Clark nodded as he continued toward the kitchen. Anya was coming down stairs still in her night gown, "I'll go out and get the paper," she yawned.
Clark nodded his greeting as she went past him. He got to the kitchen and found Buffy and Riley sitting at the table talking quietly while they ate. Willow was at the stove, her back to him. He was about to greet everyone when he was interrupted by Anya's scream of terror from the front porch!