Rainbow Over Sunnydale Chapter 19
by Joe Black
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 1: I am adjusting the Buffy time line slightly, moving things back about a month. This fic starts right after 'Never Leave Me'.
Authors note 2: I can't seem to get Fanfic to accept any special formatting so anytime that you see '*' it means that the speaker is speaking a foreign language. If you see '[*]' it are the person's thoughts.
Notes to reviewers:
Dorothy: Thanks for reviewing both chapters. I like your attitude toward living in Sunnydale. I don't know about her being unhappy at meeting Buffy, If I were her I would be ecstatic.
denaumo: Longer Chapters, or More chapters?
LMiC2001: Thank you makes me feel good that you enjoy the fic enough to post me as one of your favorite authors.
Jen: Thank you. If you can picture the scenes in your head then I am doing my job.
Ack: Thanks for sticking with me.
Thanks to all that reviewed. Constructive criticisms always welcomed. Flames cheerfully ignored.
814 Front Street
Sunnydale California
26Oct2002
1012 hours
"This is the place I really wanted you to see," Xander Harris told Riley Finn as he unlocked the door to the building. "My boss picked this place up six months ago for a steal. He wanted to make it into a mini-mall but he couldn't get anyone else to put any money into it."
"Isn't this were Buffy first ran into Glory?" Riley asked.
"Yeah. They found a couple of Glory's victims around here so the place got the reputation of being cursed," Xander told the commando.
"Okay, I'm seeing a good deal of structural damage here," Riley said, pointing out the various craters in the concrete walls, and the crack in the floor that lead to a support pillar that had collapsed.
"Most of the damage is purely cosmetic," Xander, argued, "The crack in the floor can be fixed, I have a bunch of people that I trust that can set this place right in a week. Come this way I'll show you the basement and a couple other features that this place has.
Xander led Riley downstairs into the basement. They walked down a set of double wide concrete stairs. Once in the basement Riley let out a low whistle. It ran the full length of the warehouse and was completely empty. Two freight elevators where along one wall, along the opposite wall were a compressor and an air conditioner, plus an emergency generator. Steel pillars dotted the room holding up the floor of the work area above. There was one very noticeable crack in the ceiling. "I figure that you could either use this area for storage, or with a little work you could put in a shooting range," Xander said. "There isn't another basement like this in Sunnydale."
"Plus we could set up a physical fitness area or a sparring area," Riley agreed, starting to be swayed.
"Training area?" Xander questioned, "Come with me."
Riley followed Xander up out of the basement. Xander crossed the room to a set of double doors with windows that were set into the middle of the opposite wall. They went through the doors and Riley found himself in a short passage that ended in another set of double doors. Once through the doors Riley found himself in a gymnasium. There was a short set of bleachers to his right. To his left was a set of doors marked 'Men', and 'Women'. Across from him he could see three more sets of doors. The first led into what looked like a weight room, the second looked like it might be a sauna, and the last looked like a door. Above him a suspended track circled the gym to allow people to run in inclement weather. Finally in one corner of the gym suspend from the track hung a heavy bag, and a speed bag. While there was layer of dust on everything, they seemed to be in perfect condition.
"The original owner was a physical fitness nut, He believed that a fit employee was a happy employee. And that a happy employee was a productive one. So he put this all in for the workers. I think that he wanted to be able to write off a health spa as a business expense," Xander explained.
"Does it have a pool?" Riley asked, amazed.
"He got the hole for it dug, It's downstairs through that door there," he said pointing at the door that Riley couldn't identify on the other side of the gym, "But he was killed before they could finish it."
"Vampire got him?" Riley asked.
"Nope," Xander responded, "Was struck by lighting while he was out fishing in the middle of a lake. He left behind twenty-six heirs, and three wills."
Riley shook his head, "What happened? Or was your boss one of the heirs?"
"No, this is Sunnydale. Within three years there was one heir left. Buffy was just too late to save him. The second to last heir did die of 'neck rupture,'" Xander said with a smile. "I think the guy was either dancing on the grave of his last opponent, or was pissing on it when the vampire dug himself out. The judge that was handling the case was sick of it, so when my boss showed up with cash in hand he authorized the sale to him. I know he is looking to offload it."
"Okay, looks good," Riley told the other man. "A couple of things I want to know though."
"Shoot," Xander replied.
"Buffy and Spike, are they still an item?" Riley asked.
Xander turned and started heading back to the warehouse proper. "No they broke up apparently just after you and Sam showed up last time."
Riley followed him out, "Okay then why all the tension last night when the topic came up?"
"Spike left town last spring, personally I had hoped that we had seen the last of him. Buffy found him hiding in the basement of the school when she started there. She has been mother hening him ever since. He hasn't been quite right since he got his soul back."
"He piss some gypsy tribe off and get cursed?" Riley wanted to know.
"He apparently did it to himself," Xander replied.
"Huh? He volunteered to get his soul back?"
"You'll have to ask him," Xander replied shortly.
"Okay, sorry," Riley told him, "How did they get together anyway? When I left for Mexico I he was sniffing around, but she couldn't stand him."
"He did some good things against Glory," Xander told Riley grudgingly, then went on without thinking, "Then when Buffy got back I guess she could open up with him easier than she could with us."
"Back?" Riley asked perplexed, "Where did she go?"
Xander realizing what he had just said and tried to change the subject, "Wow, would you look at the time! Buffy should be back soon! Why don't we head back and meet up with them."
Riley stopped Xander by putting his arm in front of Xander, "Where… did… she… go?" He didn't change the tone of the question at all but somehow managed to portray a whole lot of menace anyway.
Xander looked at the other man and realized that he was all alone with a trained commando and that there was no one around that would likely be able to interfere if things got… unpleasant. "It's not my story to tell Riley," He tried.
"I don't exactly have anyone else to ask Xander," Riley said, "I need to know this stuff, to see how it will affect the mission."
Xander shrugged in defeat, "She died Riley, Buffy sacrificed herself to close Glory's portal and save everyone."
Riley winced, "That was the May after I left?"
"I don't think you being there would have made a difference," Xander told him, "I doubt that you would have been able to stop the portal from opening."
"We'll never know will we," Riley said bitterly. "Did someone perform CPR again?"
"She was dead for four months Riley," Xander said flatly.
"Four months? Ho….Willow," Riley said realizing what must of happened.
"That was really the start of her magic addiction. She talked Tara, Anya, and me into helping her. We brought Buffy back the September after she died."
"So that's what she meant," Riley said to himself.
"Pardon?" Xander asked confused.
"When we were going after the Suvolte Demon I told her I had some stories to tell her. She asked If I had died, when I said I hadn't she said,'I'll win,' I never got a chance to ask her what she had meant"
"There's more," Xander said quietly, "You might as well hear it from me rather than someone else.'
"What?" Riley asked.
"Willow was hot on bringing Buffy back because she had convinced herself that Buffy was in a hell dimension somewhere and that she was rescuing her. Because Buffy was killed by mystical means we could bring her back."
Riley nodded that he understood.
"The only thing was Willow got it wrong about were Buffy was," Xander said flatly.
That didn't penetrate immediately. Riley turned this statement around in his mind a couple of times till it finally started making sense. Xander watched the process play across Riley's face for several seconds, he saw when Riley was starting to get what Xander had told him, for the first time Xander was actually a little scared to be in the commando's presence.
"Willow didn't bother to check?" Riley asked quietly.
"What?" Xander asked, taking a step back.
"You would think that a witch that is strong enough to raise the dead could talk to it!" Riley said through clenched teeth.
"I don't think so," was all Xander could say.
Riley felt an awesome rage building; it blew through anything he tried to place in its way. He couldn't believe that these people could be so…so… STUPID about something like this. "Xander, I think it would be a good idea for you to wait for me in the car," Riley told the other man.
Looking at how pale Riley's face had become Xander decided that it would be a very good idea to do just that, "Right, car, gotcha, I'll come back and turn the lights out later," he said as he backed away from Riley.
Once Riley was alone he didn't even try to keep it in, he all but howled. How could someone who claimed to be a friend do something like that to you? Deep in his heart he knew what had happened, Willow couldn't take being the big gun, she needed Buffy back. So she didn't let anything that would put a crimp in her plan intrude into it. So she never bothered to check with Buffy to find out if she wanted to come back. The more he thought about it the more his rage climbed, until finally it reached a point were he cocked back an arm, and was about launch a fist at an unoffending I-beam. That was when the cultured and urbane voice behind him asked, "Pardon me, but could I be of assistance?"
Riley didn't hesitate, he threw himself to the left rolling over and coming up on one knee with his Desert Eagle in hand. As he settled on his target he said to himself, "[Damn, I'm going to need a bigger gun.]"
Sunnydale FBI Office
451 Main Street
Sunnydale CA
1020 hours
Pat walked through the doors to the FBI office followed by Clark, then Willow. The office matched the outside of the building. It was a narrow three-story structure; the waiting area had room for a desk and an aisle that allowed people to get past the desk. Seated behind the desk was a receptionist, she was a forty something woman, with blond hair pulled into a bun that had a couple of streaks of gray hair. The receptionist looked up and smiled at them. The nameplate on the desk identified her as Carol Picket. "Can I help you?" She asked.
Showing her his ID, Pat said, "Inspector Patrick O'Day, I'd like to speak to Agent Murphy, or Connors."
"Agent Murphy and Connors are in a meeting. Is it an emergency or can you wait for them to finish?" Carol told them.
Pat was about to ask how sensitive the meeting was when voices came from the back of the office. "I think they are done," Carol told them.
Three people came down the stairs; all were dressed in suits of one type or another. The first was a tall rangy person; he was just over six feet tall, with black hair and gray eyes. Following him was another man, in his sixties, with gray hair and brown eyes. Last in line was a short stocky woman, with bland hair and hazel eyes. "Mr. Murphy?" Carol Picket said, "This is Inspector O'Day, he would like to speak with you."
Murphy looked the people his receptionist had introduced over and then he held out his hand and said, "Frayne Murphy, I'm the SAC of the Sunnydale Office," He said, turning to the others, "This Is Marciro Estoba, he is the postal inspector for this area." Pointing to the blond he went on, "And this is Susan Conners, she is the ASAC, also the only other agent assigned to the office."
Pat shook his hand, he was mildly surprised that Murphy didn't try for the old 'crush the other guy's hand trick,' Pointing out his companions he said, "This is General John Clark, and Willow Rosenberg." Pat noticed that Susan Conners became a little paler when he mentioned Willow's name, "[Interesting, she knows of her]."
"What can I do for you Inspector O'Day?" Frayne asked pleasantly. Pat noticed that he had no unusual reaction to Willows name.
"It would be better if we could talk privately," Pat replied.
"I need to get going anyway Fray," The postal inspector said. "I'll get into contact with you during the week to see if you have turned anything up."
"Okay Marc, I'll talk to you during the week." Frayne told him. Then turning to the receptionist he said, "Carol, why don't you take off? You'll still be paid till noon."
"Thank you," Carol said as she started getting ready to go, "I think I shall enjoy the sunshine."
"Enjoy yourself," The SAC told her as she headed for the door.
Once the door closed behind her Frayne locked the door and put a closed sign on it. Turning back to the others he said, "Maybe we should go up to my office."
Pat nodded and followed the SAC up the stairs. Clark made like he was being polite and waved Conners up the stairs in front of him. He noted that the FBI agent made sure that Willow was in front of her. He also noticed that one of her hands stayed awfully close to the waistband of her skirt.
When the group reached the second floor Frayne led them down a short hallway with three doors, one straight ahead the other two on opposite walls. The hallway was basic government; the walls were flat white paint with well-worn medium gray carpeting. To a certain extent Murphy's office was also basic government, with an old gray metal desk, gray filling cabinets, and gray bookshelves. The office did have some non-standard features though; around the circumference of the room were a series of shelves that were covered with an incredible assortment of knick-knacks. Willow found a number of items of interest because they had a definite magical aura about them. The centerpiece of the collection though was a stuffed gray fox that seemed to be covered with soft green fuzz. Willow noticed that John and Pat were also staring at the fox. Frayne also noticed that his visitors were staring at the stuffed animal. He smiled at them and said, "Like my Fox Molding?"