Rainbow over Sunnydale

by JoeB1451

(Complete)When the Initiative goes AWOL Buffy might need some help to stop them from opening the Hellmouth. (A Rainbow SixBuffy crossover.)

20. Chapter 20

Rainbow Over Sunnydale Chapter 20

By Joseph 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 just after 'Never Leave Me'.

Authors Note 2: Since I can't seem to get FanFiction to recognize any special formatting, If you see this *, it means that the person is speaking in a foreign language, and if you see this [*], it is that characters thoughts.

Notes to reviewers:

Jilltanith:  Yeah, I notice stuff as I go back over the story too.  I am slowly making my way through it a chapter at a time and I repost when I get one done.  Thanks for pointing stuff out, when I get to that part of the story I will make sure to change it.

Direwolf757:  I'm not really much of an X-Files fan.  I never really got a chance to be.  I was always doing something when it was on.  I have seen a bunch of episodes and I generally enjoyed the non-conspiracy shows, but after watching a couple of the ones that dealt with it I came to the conclusion that I was glad that Joss Whedon did Buffy rather than Mr. Carter.  I feel that if Chris Carter had done Buffy we still wouldn't be sure that Angel was a vampire.

As far as a bigger gun goes, (Note, if you have zero interest in firearms you might want to skip this part.) Riley has several choices.  He could use a sawed-off twelve gauge, while technically not a 'handgun', it can be concealed under clothing.  There is also a .454 Casul; this is the Anti-Newcomer gun that James Caan used in 'Alien Nation'. It has about a third more stopping power than the Desert Eagle.  Or Remington makes a pistol called the XP-1000; this is a bolt-action hunting/target pistol, chambered for .308 calibers.  It has about twice the stopping power of the Desert Eagle; of course it's single shot.  The other two handguns that are available to Riley are the Bushmaster, and The Carbon-15.  Both of these weapons are chambered for .223 rifle ammo and have about fifty percent more stopping power than the Desert Eagle.  The Bushmaster is an assault pistol and is capable of automatic fire, (Note, I didn't say it was controllable like that.) and uses the same clip as the M-16 Rifle.  The Carbon-15 is semi-auto.  I chose the Desert Eagle for Riley because I felt that it combined the best qualities of stopping power, magazine capacity, ease of reload, and concealablity.

Dorothy: I don't think it will be all that hard for them to convince them that Willow is at least trying to be good.  Were I think it will hurt a lot is that it will be difficult for them to take Willow take on anything seriously.  They will really want to make sure that she thought it through.  As far as humor in the FBI?  Why do you think he got sent to Sunnydale?

Marcus Rowland:  Oh come on Marcus, It's at a great price!  Besides there have been no demonic voices saying, "GET OUT!!"…Yet.

Catimere:  I always felt that most people in Sunnydale knew more about what was going on than they generally showed.  I had visions in the one episode were Buffy thought she had killed Warrens girlfriend of her going into the police station, confessing to the crime, and having the desk sergeant pat her on the head and tell her, "Try to be more careful next time,"

LmiC2001:  Thanks for reviewing.  Your question will be answered momentarily.

Ack:  Glad to give you a boost to your day.  Know what you are talking about, I love it when I get up and one of the stories that I am following has been updated.  Also glad you have lots of questions, must keep the readers coming back, right?  I think that when John finds out, it will affect his relationship with Willow a little; I haven't quite decided how that's going to go.

 Thanks to all that reviewed. Constructive criticisms always welcomed. Flames cheerfully
ignored.

Fic Starts Here

Frayne Murphy went on as if he hadn't just made a funny and said, "I tried to convince Sue to dye her hair red, but she wouldn't go for it."

"Frayne!"  Susan Conners hissed.

"By that joke I take it that you are aware then of the more unusual aspects of Sunnydale?" Pat O'Day asked.

"I would think that he does," Willow said.  "The knick-knacks in the corners of the room, and the ones that are in the center of the shelves radiate a magical aura."

"For what I paid for them, they'd better."  Frayne said matter-of- factly.

"What do they do?"  Clark asked.

"The corner ones are a set, they prevent anyone from scryeing into my office.  The center ones gives me an Idea of the direction that someone is trying to scrye from.  Since that stuff is coming out of my pocket and they ain't cheap, I haven't been able to afford enough of them to be able to triangulate on a scryer," Frayne finished.

"If you are aware of what goes on around here, why didn't you include any of it in your reports?"  O'Day asked, pressing a little harder.

"I was ordered not too," Murphy said matter-of-factly.

"By who?"  O'Day asked, slightly accusingly.

"Director Shaw," Frayne said, obviously enjoying the twenty-questions.

Pat was starting to get annoyed.  He didn't let it show though, "Why didn't you get confirmation that the order was still in force when Director Shaw was killed?  You should have confirmed it with Director Murray."

"We were visited by a member of The Initiative before the fires were out in the Capitol and was told that everything was to continue as it had been."

Clark broke in,  "What association do you have with The Initiative?"

"As little as humanly possible," Frayne said dryly.  "They think that they are God's gift to the planet, and they never let you forget it."

"Maybe it would be better if we started from the beginning," Pat instructed.

Frayne Murphy shrugged,  "Okay.  How much do you know about how Sue and I ended up here?"

"Assume we know nothing," was the rather short reply.

Frayne leaned back in his chair, "Once upon a time," Sue just covered her eyes with her hands and groaned.  "There was a small town mayor who got killed in a boiler explosion of his town's high school, right in the middle of a graduation ceremony."

Willow cringed; she could SEE the quote marks around 'boiler explosion.'

"Do you think this is a joke Agent Murphy?"  Pat asked tightly.

Frayne rocked his chair back and put his feet back on the floor, "Not at all Inspector O'Day, I haven't thought that there is anything remotely funny about this town.  Sue and I have been effectively exiled here for the last three years.  Now you just saunter in with the Army and her," he said nodding at Willow, "and you expect me to just offer up answers that you should already know?  I want some kind of explanation for what the two of us have been through before I say squat.  I'm not the one who has to defend my actions."

"You are aware of who Willow is?"  Clark asked surprised.  He was going to have to check Webster's definition of 'Secret Identity'; obviously the one he had been using was incorrect.

"When Ms. Summers was joining the Initiative Dr. Walsh, the director asked me to do a standard security background check on Ms. Summers.  I became aware of Ms. Rosenberg as part of that process.  I have kept track to a limited degree since then."

Willow appeared very uncomfortable with the idea that 'officialdom' had been keeping track of her and Buffy.

"How about you give us the background, then we'll brief you in if it checks out," O'Day offered.

"Fair enough," Murphy agreed somewhat mollified.  "Okay, when Mayor Wilkens died what ever protection he had been giving to his cronies in town died with him.  As an offshoot of the investigation into the explosion that killed him all sorts of corruption was discovered.  The whole city council, half the police force, a third of the rest of the departments where indicted on a host of corruption and racketeering charges, including the whole FBI office here in town.  The only group in Sunnydale's government that didn't get nailed was the school board.  I don't think they were clean, just that they were a little more clever at hiding what they had been up too.

Of the FBI office here, one agent disappeared, two were convicted and are serving long prison terms in Leavenworth, the other two committed suicide, though I believe that one was murdered."

"Why?"  O'Day asked.

"I came across some of his old psyc-evals, he had a crippling fear of being strangled, yet when it came time to commit suicide he hung himself despite having several firearms in the house.

"I was stationed in Baltimore, Sue was in San Francisco.  Our initial orders were to basically baby-sit the office until a full size staff could be assigned, that was three years ago.  When we first came to town we didn't know that this was demon central.  We found the local law enforcement largely in disarray from losing its senior staff.  They also didn't like the government for some reason. Originally I believed it was just small town paranoia but I found out it was because of you guys," He said nodding at Clark.

Clark didn't bother to correct him.

"We found about what goes on here after dark by accident," He said.

Sue Conners took over the story, "When I can't sleep I go for a run."

Willow winced at the idea of an innocent running along in the middle of the night in Sunnydale; you might as well ring the dinner bell.

"One night I couldn't sleep I went out at about 0230 for a run.  I had gotten halfway through my route when I was jumped.  I managed to get out of his grip and identified myself as a federal officer, I also pulled my service weapon.  My attacker laughed at me.  When he lunged at me I shot him four times in the chest.  He jerked back and said, I quote, 'That hurt,' He grabbed me then and started biting me in the neck.  I had noticed that there was something wrong with his face at that point but the pain in my neck was my primary concern.  I couldn't fight him, he was too strong," She was getting a little upset at this point, breathing a little heaver, Willow reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, Sue started from the contact.  Willow smiled at her and tilted her head so Sue could see the bite marks on her neck.  Sue smiled back.

Taking a deep breath Sue continued, "Suddenly he wasn't there anymore, there was just a cloud of dust, standing behind where he had been was a local holding a stick.  She asked me if I was all right, and when I indicated that I was she took off.  She suggested that I don't wander around late at night anymore."

"Let me guess," Clark said.  She was a little better than five feet tall, and blond?"  Clark asked with a smile.

"Yes sir," Sue confirmed.

"Sue came over to my place immediately and reported what had happened.  I probably would not have believed her except for the neck wounds.  I had noticed the death rate in this town, but could find nothing to indicate what was the cause.  Sue and I took a late night tour of the local coroners office and perused his files.  You would be shocked at the number of cases of 'neck rupture', that there are in this town.  With this information Sue and I grabbed the first plane for Washington.  We asked for and got a meeting with Director Shaw.  We explained what we had found out.  Shaw nodded and said that he had expected it to be something like this.  He ushered in a man who was introduced as Agent Smith.  Agent Smith explained broadly about The Initiative and it's mission.  He explained that they were aware of the situation in Sunnydale and were taking steps to remedy it.  He told us to return to Sunnydale and be FBI agents.  To ignore what was going on, not to report to Headquarters things of Supernatural nature, and finally if we did come across anything we should get in contact with them at a contact number and just pass the information along."

'Didn't you try to get some info back to the home office anyway?" Pat asked, tone still accusatory.

"Sure, I waited four months and then tried to back door a report of what had been going on.  I had a visit from 'Agent Smith' the next day.  It was not a pleasant get together.  I think that only the fact that they would have to break in another new guy that kept me here."

Pat shook his head.  He glanced over at John Clark and silently asked what he thought.  Clark nodded.

"Okay Agents Murphy and Conners, it's like this," O'Day then went on to explain what was going on.  Where he stumbled Clark took over.  When he was done Murphy just shook his head.

"Things are going to get interesting around here.  What can we do to help?"  He asked the other three.

"Right now you can let us use your secure fax," Clark said as he took out his phone and started dialing."

814 Front Street

Sunnydale CA

26Oct2002

1046 hours

"Lord D'Hoffyrn," Riley greeted the Lord of The Vengeance Demons.

"Captain Riley, I apologize for startling you, but I thought that it would be easier to have a conversation if you were not nursing a broken hand."

Riley didn't lower the pistol, though he doubted it would do more than annoy the demon lord.  D'Hoffyrn for his part completely ignored the fact that the person he was talking to was holding a weapon on him.  "What do you want to talk about?" Riley asked.

"I had hoped that we could exchange favors," D'Hoffyrn explained, "Your rage attracted me.  I don't blame you for being angry, Xander left out the best part when he told the story, they didn't dig her up first," D'Hoffyrn smirked, "Buffy came back to herself six feet down and had to dig herself out.  It was a while before The Slayer could sort herself out."

Riley clamped down on his emotions.  If he gave into his emotions while dealing with this demon, he probably wouldn't live to regret it.  "Thanks for the information," He managed.

"Please Captain Finn.  I mean you no harm, I just want to do some business with you."

"What business?"  Riley asked warily.

"I would like you to give this amulet to Thibault" The demon lord explained.

"Who?"  Riley asked.

"I'm sorry," D'Hoffyrn apologized, "You know him as John Clark.  In reality he is Thibault, he who avenges those wronged by people in authority over them.  I have missed having him in the stable.  Though Thibault has done quite well on his own, I would like to allow him to expand his operational base.  In return I will grant you a no backlash wish for you to do whatever you want to Mr. Harris."

"I don't need your help to mangle Xander, if I would want him mangled," Riley said coldly.  Then shaking his head, "I can't just hand that to General Clark.  I will tell him that you would like to talk to him; if he says yes then I can pass it along.  That's the best I will do for you."

"Yes I see that you are serious.  Well that would not count as a favor, rather a consideration," D'Hoffyrn said, rubbing his chin, "Very well, I dislike being in debt for something this trifling, so I'll pay it back now.  Some other information that Xander Harris failed to pass on to you in his explanation of Spike and Ms. Summers relationship last year.  The reason that Spike decided to leave town last year is because he tried to rape Ms. Summers."  D'Hoffyrn had a small smile on his lips as he faded.

Riley contemplated this for a second, and then turning on his heels he stormed toward the door, and Xander Harris beyond.

Campsite 22

Mesa Alta National Park

Outside Sunnydale CA

26Oct2002

1005 hours

Ranger Broadman went to the tree that Dr. Sandra Sanchez and her daughter were in and looking up said with a smile, "Dr. Sanchez, happy to meet you face to face."

Looking back at the ranger Sandra felt some of the unease leaching out of her body.  "Not half as happy as I am," She returned.  "I'm going to need some help getting me and Brieanna out of this tree.  My legs are numb, I don't think they'll support me."

"Mom?" The boy in the other tree asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Its just having to hold your sister in my lap for so long Thomas, don't worry.  You can come out of the tree now."

"Ding could you give me a hand here?"  Broadman asked Chavez.

"Sure, no problem," Ding said as he came over, he leaned his rifle up against a nearby tree after making sure the safety was on and then started climbing the tree with the doc.  Broadman came to the bottom of the tree and waited for Ding to get ready.  When Ding reached the stranded doctor and her daughter he smiled confidently and said, "Hi, I'm Ding Chavez.  I think the best way to do this is to hand your daughter down then see about you."

Sandra smiled back and nodded, "Brieanna, Mr. Chavez will help you down."

"Hi! Ding said to the eight-year old.  "Ready to get out of this tree?"

Brieanna just nodded, staring at this stranger that had killed the bad invisible dogs.

Buffy meanwhile had collected her crossbow.  Clucking to herself over the scratches it had received when she had dropped it she started to cock it her normal way.  Stopping she decided that she didn't need Dr. Sanchez asking awkward questions so she cocked it the way that Gerry had showed her.  She fit a quarrel in it and started scanning when Dr. Sanchez's son got down out of the tree.

He ran over to where Ding was helping Broadman get his sister out of the tree.  The tall ranger was just able to reach the girl as Ding handed her all the way down.  Thomas took his sister from the ranger and hugged her tight; he never took his eyes off of his mother though.

Ding tried to get Sandra out of the tree but he realized that she was too heavy for him to extend the way he did with her daughter.  Looking around he spotted Buffy and said, "Buffy!  I'm going to need some extra height to get the Doc down, give a hand?"

Buffy taking one last scan around nodded and headed over to Ranger Broadman.  She removed the quarrel from the bow and de-cocked it then turning to the ranger she asked, "How do you want to do this?" 

"How 'bout you get up on Robert's shoulder, then I'll be able to hand the Doc down," Ding suggested,

"Ranger Broadman?" Buffy asked the Indian Ranger.

"Okay," the ranger replied, "But do me a favor and don't snap my neck with your legs."

"Do my best not to," Buffy reassured him as she climbed up his back and settled around his neck.

Dr. Sanchez looked at this dubiously, she doubted that Buffy would have enough strength to make that much of a difference.  Still if the young woman could steady her then the ranger could get a grip on her.  Sandra decided that she didn't have a lot of choice so…

"Okay Doc," Ding began, "I'm going to hand you off to Buffy who will in return hand you off to Ranger Broadman."

Sandra nodded that she understood and braced herself to be dropped.  She was shocked when she felt the girls, Buffy? Take her waist in her hands and start lowering her.  When the ranger took over his grip wasn't as tight, he mostly just guided her down, the girl on his shoulder was supplying the muscle!

Once Sandra got her legs up off the tree limb her circulation started returning to her legs.  It started as 'pins-and-needles' but she was soon gasping from the pain.  Thomas came over bringing his sister and said, "Are you sure you're alright?"  He asked with great concern.  Brieanna just looked on eyes wide.

"Hey!"  Sandra said through the pain, as she leaned up against Broadman's chest, using her arms to hold herself up, "Who's the doctor here?  I'll be fine Thomas, just as soon as I get the circulation back into my legs."

"Did I hurt you Mommy?"  Brieanna asked, almost crying.

Sandra managed to lean over and pulled her youngest into a tight embrace with her free arm, "No, baby! You didn't hurt me, it's just that you are so big and you had to sit on my lap for so long, I'm fine, really."  Brieanna didn't looked convinced, but she also no longer looked on the verge of tears either.

As Buffy climbed down off of Broadman's shoulders Thomas Sanchez got his first good look at her.  "Hey Mom! This is the guidance councilor I told you about."

Dr. Sanchez looked at the young woman with surprise.  Thomas had said that she was young, but this was ridiculous.  This girl looked barely old enough to have an Associates Degree, how did she land a job as a school councilor?  She had other questions about the petite blond also.  Like how had she leaped the twenty feet to land at the hound she had flipped so she could break it's neck.  And what about the strength that she had exhibited to get her out of the tree?  The fear that had been starting to ebb with how she and her family were being treated returned full force.

"Dr. Sanchez?"  Ranger Broadman asked, "I'm going to have an ambulance waiting for your family at the bottom of the hill.  We can start down as soon as you feel you're able."

"Thank you," She replied, "Thomas, why don't you get our stuff together, even if we can't take it down, at least it will be easy to pick up."

Her son just nodded and started to strike tents.

"We'll have to come up and recover the remains of the man who ran into your camp Dr. Sanchez, we'll pick your stuff up then," the Ranger assured her.

"Thank you," She returned sincerely.  "Do you have any idea who he was?"

"I think I may, if I'm right his name was Lloyd Crispen," Broadman told her.

"Was he a friend of yours?"  She asked, sympathy in her voice.

"No.  He and his brother-in-law were poachers, I was trying to arrest them,"

"He died a hero ranger, he saved my family."

"I know, I'll ignore what I think he and his brother-in-law were doing out here," the ranger assured her.

Thomas went over and started striking the tents, Brieanna for her part didn't move from her mother's side.  Buffy taking one more look around could detect nothing supernatural so she went and started helping the teenager pack.

Thomas looked over at her and asked, "Was that Ti-Chi?"

Buffy glanced at him confused and said, "What?"

"What you used on… whatever those things were you know when you flipped it."  He asked, eyes glowing.  "I took a couple of years of Aikido, mom wouldn't let me take any of the harder arts."

"Uh no, at least I don't think so," Buffy told the youth, "I tend to mix and match stuff, I'm never really sure where they originally came from."

"Wow you must practice a lot of martial arts.  Do you think I could join your dojo?"  He asked.

"I don't think so," Buffy said, softening her tone to let the kid down easy, "It's sort of private."

"Dang," Thomas said, "If an opening comes up could you put my name in?"

"I doubt one will, but if it does sure," Buffy said, "[Thankfully you are the wrong sex kid,]" she thought.

They quickly finished getting everything together and looked at the pile.  "I think that this will be to much to carry if there are more of those things out there," Buffy said.

Thomas nodded his head, "Yeah if I have to run up another tree I don't want to be waded down by this stuff."  Turning to his sister he said, "Brie, if you want you can take your backpack, otherwise I think we should just leave this stuff."

Sandra was proud of her son, most teens would have insisted on bringing their stuff, she had already decided to leave it.  If someone stole it before the rangers could get back up here so be it, she could always replace the tents and utensils.  "Good plan Thomas," she said smiling at her son.

"Are you taking yours?"  Brie asked.

"Nope, just what's on my body," He told his sister.

"Okay, I can find those kind of flowers again, I'll just take me too."  Brieanna said, totally serious.

"Good, baby," Sandra said as she kissed her youngest on the top of the head.

Sandra looked over at Buffy and asked, "Does the guidance councilors usually come out on rescue missions?"

Buffy shrugged, "I do this kind of thing when it comes up.  Ranger Broadman asked for help so I helped."

"Somehow I can't imagine the guidance councilors that I had in high school volunteering for a rescue mission.  Sunnydale High must be a full service school," Dr. Sanchez said, half joking,

Buffy winced, "I didn't know your son was up here, I just came to help."

"Thank you, Anything I can do for you in the future, just ask.  That goes for you Mr. Chavez, or you Ranger Broadman, too."

"You don't owe me anything Dr. Sanchez," Buffy told her with the other two nodding in agreement.

"I say that I do," The Hispanic Doctor replied, closing the subject.

Buffy turned to the other two members of the rescue party and silently between them they decided to drop the subject for now.

Dr. Sanchez rubbed her legs a last time and said, "I think with a little help I can start down the trail now."

Ranger Broadman nodded and pulled out his cell phone, he hit a speed dial number and said into the phone, "This is Broadman, I need two ambulances at the bottom of trail 35 of the Mesa Alto national park.  I have three for transport, non-serious, exposure, and dehydration.  We'll be down in forty-five minutes to an hour."  He listened to the response, and turned to Ding and Buffy, "How do you want to do this?"

Ding glanced at Buffy, but she nodded that she was willing to listen to what he suggested, "Okay this is what we'll do.  I'll help the Doc along, the kids stay with us, Buffy you take point again, and Ranger, you have the rear."

Buffy and Broadman nodded that this was acceptable, so Ding offered his shoulder to the Doctor, which she took.

It took them most of the hour to get down the hill.  By the time they were almost at the clearing Dr. Sanchez no longer needed to lean on Dings shoulder.  Just as the parking lot was almost in sight Buffy came back up the trail, "There is two ambulances in the lot, plus some guy I don't know," she told the Ding and the ranger.

"That's probably the reporter from the Sunnydale Press," Dr. Sanchez told the rescue party.

"You called a reporter?"  Buffy asked incredulously.

"I was afraid with what those things were, that they were some kind of government experiment that had escaped.  I thought that maybe you people were coming up there to kill my kids and me; I figured that if there was a reporter around you might not.  After what you have risked for my family and me, I'm sorry that I doubted you," she finished sincerely.

Buffy kind of shrugged, she could see her point, "What are we going to do?  I don't want to get my picture in the paper."

"Do you think you could find Crispen's pickup again?"  Broadman asked.

"Sure," was the response.

"Okay, head out that way.  I'll pick you up there," the ranger offered.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Sanchez told Buffy.

"Don't worry about it.  If I was in your situation I probably would of done the same thing," Buffy reassured her as she started toward the pickup.

Somehow Sandra Sanchez doubted that.

When they emerged into the parking lot, the EMT's from the ambulances were all over the Sanchez family.  They quickly checked vitals and got them up on gurneys for the trip to Sunnydale General.  Sandra thought about protesting, but decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride.  The reporter introduced himself as Jurgis Ewell, and asked what had happened up there.

Ding breathed a sigh of relive when Dr. Sanchez gave a very edited account of what happened, blaming wild dogs for the attack on her family.  She refused to let the reporter interview either of her children, and after about 10 minutes the reporter took off looking somewhat aggravated.

As she was being loaded into the ambulance, Brieanna was riding with her, while Thomas had the other one to himself; Sandra waved at her rescuers and called, "Thank you!" one last time.

Ding and Broadman waited for a couple of minutes to make sure that the reporter had actually left then climbed into the rangers jeep and started back toward where Buffy was waiting for them.  Ding turned to the ranger and asked, "That saying you quoted before we headed up the trail, was that really an Arapaho saying?"

"Well," The big ranger said, "They may have borrowed it from someone,"

Ding laughed, "Pleasure doing business with you Ranger Broadman."

"Same here, Major Chavez, same here,"