Note: OK, so the chapters are getting a little longer, cause I really want to finish this. I just have to get them into Columba's lair and the final battle. But I'm a little stuck, so be patient. I just wanted to post this chapter to keep the story alive and moving. Please review. It's been fun writing this. I can't believe I got over 20 reviews so far! A first for me. Thanks a bunch.

Chapter Twenty-two – Look What the Cat Dragged In

Buffy gathered together Lindsey and a couple others to try and finalize a strategy. Gunn had gone out to intercept the military. She didn't need them to complicate her life any more than it was now. What she wouldn't give to be in a small Italian café savoring a cup of coffee and watching the people walk by.

The small commotion at the door signaled that Gunn had been successful. Her nerves were jittery enough having to see Riley again. Xander and Giles had joined in also. The only ingredient missing was Willow. And she was glad the witch was elsewhere. She had enough people to worry about.

"Hey, slayer. Look what the cat dragged in," Gunn shouted from across the room of people.

Giles and Xander did look like something the cat buried in the backyard. Had Riley ever looked so tall and commanding? She waited for Sam to pop out next to him. The two had seemed inseparable in Sunnydale before.

The squeal from Dawn startled her though. Instead of running to Xander or even Giles for that matter, Dawn ran for a boy about the same age she was.

"So that's the boy wonder," Lindsey mused beside her.

Connor. Had the same scowl as his father. Otherwise, Buffy would not have known that they were related. But it was the man standing beside Connor that worried her. The scruffy man glared in her direction. He wasn't staring at her, but Lindsey.

Dawn pulled away from the boy to hug the man. Damn, it couldn't be, she thought. She didn't have time to think about the scene before her since Xander enveloped her in a bear hug.

"I'm OK, Xander."

"Just checking." It felt so wonderful to see her friends again.

Giles looked at her with that half-smile he always gave her when she had done a great job. "Nice to see you," Giles told her as he had his turn at a hug.

"Nice to be seen. I see you met my army."

"Yeah. Although yours aren't as scary-looking as ours is."

Buffy could see Riley giving his men orders. He hadn't approached her yet.

"How are you?" Giles asked.

"Other than being sliced by that damn bad guy, and his minions trying to kill me afterwards, just fine."

"Do you have any idea what is happening?"

"Some, but I'd love your input. This guy we're going up against is very powerful."

"You know they kidnapped Faith?"

"Yeah. For some reason my blood didn't work."

"Buffy, before the First issue had been resolved, she was the slayer."

"Not any more though. We should have a confab after you guys get cleaned up."

"You tell him, Giles. I am so not in the mood to get decked. My nose still hurts." Xander motioned to the man behind him.

"He will just have to understand that we need to plan."

"OK, confused here," Buffy told the two men.


"Why are we just standing around?" Wesley asked Dawn.

"Because Buffy has a plan. We need to wait."

"For what?" Connor asked, also eager to find Faith.

"Hey, Wes. It's cool. The girl has a plan," Gunn interjected.

"We can't wait, Gunn. Faith's in danger."

"Whoa, whoa. Don't go all cowboy on us. And will you quit glaring at that man, 'cause he's on our side now."

Gunn had noticed Wesley's look in Lindsey's direction. He never trusted the lawyer. The many times he had tried to change his stripes never turned out good.

"He have your back now, Charles?" Gunn flinched a little. He knew that Wesley never used his first name unless it was to make a point.

"He's not lyin', Wesley." Fred had joined the conversation.

Wesley figured out that greeting Fred any other way than just politely would not be a great idea. Besides, Faith might be listening in.

"You're alive too, I see," he told Fred.

"Yup. I'm glad you're OK too. We were worried." He noticed a couple of nasty scars on Fred's arms. Maybe now she knew a little of what he felt, scars and all?

"Lindsey's saved my life a few times," Gunn added.

"Yes. Something I know quite a bit about," Wesley finished, thinking of the many instances where they'd been there for each other, before Fred came along.

Xander strolled over, but not getting too close. "Buffy would like for us all to take a break. I know, I know. Don't shoot the messenger. I think it's a good idea for now."

"Gunn, how do I get in to where Faith is being held?" Wesley asked, ignoring Xander for the moment.

"We'll get to her. Why are you so gung-ho to get to that girl?"

Lorne had gotten a couple of stares from the humans, but with the military protecting him, no one approached. "Wesley, we need to talk," Lorne asked the agitated man.

"Lorne, what's going on?" Gunn wanted to know.

"Wes, are you OK?" Fred asked him.

Everyone was looking at him like he had grown two heads. Was there fury in his heart? Yes. He wanted to get out of this warehouse, on the road and out of each and every one of their stares. He'd never fit, never belonged, just like Faith.

"Take a swing," Connor started, perfectly serious.

That snapped him out of his fury for a moment. All that he could think was to get to Faith. None of them understood how strong the pull was right then. Danger surrounded Faith. She was his life now, and he wasn't going to stop until he found her.

"I am not going to hurt you, Connor." Lindsey walked up to the familiar faces. "I don't have a problem with him, though."

Wesley swung out, taking Lindsey down with one punch. All his friends' eyes widened, but Dawn was the only one to step in front of him to calm him down.

"This is so not going to get us anywhere, Wes," Dawn called out to him. "Stay down, Lindsey."

"Not going to get up," Lindsey groaned, holding his jaw.

"Wes, he's with us now," Gunn told him.

"Yes, and how many times did he try to kill us all, especially Angel?"

"He's changed," Fred added.

Buffy made her way over, striding right by Riley in the process. Lindsey looked like he needed a hand with the scruffy guy standing over him, fist ready.

"Great, he's gonna beat up someone else," Xander concluded, stepping away even more.

"Hey, you need to back off," Buffy yelled before she reached Wesley.

Wesley turned to her, meeting her face-to-face, fist at the ready. Connor stepped in front of him, along with Dawn.

"Get out of the way," Wesley growled.

"Not gonna happen, Wes," Dawn told him.

"Dawn, step away from that man. He's dangerous. And I don't have time for this." Buffy was ready to fight too.

"Tell me where she is?" Wesley said from behind the two teenagers.

"You know, you kind of look like that pansy-ass watcher who used to bug the shit out of me back in Sunnydale. But you're acting like that stupid vampire and I sent him to Hell. Want to join him?"

"Oh God, would you two quit posturing for just a moment. Am I the only one around here acting like an adult?" Dawn added.

"Yes, I think that neutral corners would be wonderful at the moment," Giles finished, taking Buffy's arm to lead her away. "Sit, Buffy."

Dawn lead Wesley to a chair on the opposite side of a big conference table set up with sewer drawings. So they were in the sewers, he thought. He'd be able to travel fast and light, once they told him where Faith was. No one could keep him from leaving once he discovered her whereabouts.

And here Buffy thought that she was in charge? The girl couldn't plan her way out of a paper sack. She had been lucky she had Giles with her back in high school.

"Sit, Wes," Dawn said, forcing him down into a chair. When had Dawn grown up? She had looked like such a lost little girl only a couple of months before. Maybe that was just the way he had wanted to see her. She had needed his protection, which made him feel needed in return. Now she was taking control of him. Females.

"Giles, I need info. Not having any books or any way to get info has made our lives a living hell. Here's what we know. The bad guy, Columba I think his name was, wants to gain power somehow. He's going to perform a ritual of some sort and he has to complete it by the end of the full moon."

"Werewolf?" Xander asked.

"No, looked human. Even smelled human. But definitely not that human. Said he had some type of ritual to open some kind of portal."

"Blood," Dawn added.

"Isn't it always. I don't have the foggiest idea what kind of ritual it is. I just know that it takes three and he has all the pieces."

While Buffy was describing the problem, Wesley's mind went into overdrive. He knew who Columba was, but it wasn't possible that the priest was still alive. It just didn't make any sense to him.

"Do you remember any of the words in the ritual, Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, like the word imperium or imperial or something like that. Not like I ever listened to all those Latin words you and Willow spout all the time."

"So the man does want absolute power then?" Wesley added. "Columba was a priest around 563. He seemed to have quite a bit of power and influence back then. He was the head of a religious body whose only order was to obey him. He had built a monastery in Iona, crushing all opposition around him. He ruled for some time, and then died around 597. He cannot still be alive."

"Unless he had powerful magicks behind him?" Giles stated, throwing out an idea.

"Only way to gather that much power, I suppose. I just cannot believe that this is St. Columba. He must be just using the name."

"Well, whatever he's doing, he's doing it right. You don't command that many demons without some kind of power, that's for sure," Buffy sighed.

"What are the other pieces? He has Faith," Wesley asked. Just saying her name pained him. He was supposed to protect her, even though she could protect herself just as well without him.

"The other two are Cordelia and Angel. I'm not sure what the significance of that is," Buffy added.

"What?" Wesley hadn't heard her right. They were dead, both of them. "Excuse me."

Wesley slowly got up from the table and walked away. Silence filled the space around the table. The walls came pressing in on him. He needed to clear his head, try to figure out what had gone wrong. Why had he left the two there in that hospital? Dust and blood don't lie. Had he imagined things in his desperation to escape?

Passing by the last guard before the entrance, Wesley kept walking to the outside door. No one stopped him from going outside. He opened the door with a resounding crash. He hadn't even looked back to see if anyone followed him.

To a person who a few months before thought he had lost all his friends, this news should have been joyous. Instead, all he could feel was guilt. Guilt for not staying behind, guilt for not saving his friends, and guilt for not dying when he should have. Sliding down against the building in the waning sun, Wesley sat with his head between his legs. With each turn, his world had turned upside down. What other surprises awaited him?

Would these friends forgive him for leaving them behind? How did he ever say he was sorry for not helping them?

"Thought you'd be happier with that news," Dawn called out.

"I left them behind."

"You didn't know," Connor added.

The two teenagers slid down on either side of him.

"You might need some protection out here," Dawn quipped.

"Still lots of bad demons around," Connor told him.

"How did I ever survive without the two of you?"

Connor smiled and Dawn snickered.

"I'm not sure what kind of game that guy's playing, but I think that whatever happened to Cordy and Angel, it was planned. Make it look like they're dead and no one comes looking for them." Dawn seemed so right about it.

"So stop feeling sorry for yourself," Connor wanted Wesley to know. "They're alive." Connor's voice broke a little.

"Yes, indeed they are. Which means we need to break them out."

"And save the day," Dawn added.

"Take the bad guy down," Connor said, sure of himself.

"We have work to do, children."

"I hate it when he says that. I am not a child," Dawn whined.

"When you say it like that, Dawn. You sound like a child." Connor was playing with fire.

Wesley laughed at the two. "Faith isn't here to break the two of you up."

"So let's find her so she can. They are so screwed."

"Dawn," both males called out.

"What? Well they are. Did you see the look on Buffy's face when she saw you?"

TBC

Next: More Buffy reaction to the new Wes, they finally go after Faith, Angel and Cordy, and Connor and Dawn have a moment (hey, I didn't want to forget about them).