TITLE: Interim

AUTHOR: William Rayne

EMAIL:

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Clark/Lana

SUMMARY: Willow sends Buffy (and by extension, Dawn) to Kansas to find 3 newly chosen slayers. Who knew that a place called Smallville would become more than a routine search and train. AU, cross-over with Smallville.

SPOILERS: BtVS: Chosen, SV: Exile, Phoenix

DISTRIBUTION: , email me

DISCLAIMER someone else owns 'em, I'm just taking them out to play. Don't sue me, I have no money

FEEDBACK: Desired like none other.

NOTES AND NEWS: This is the second part of the story. Building on the Dawn magics angle and other stuff we saw in season 7. Think this is my longest chapter yet for this story. More on Edges minions later.

 As always: bold italics for stressed, italics for thoughts or voice-over, and underlines for sarcasm or disgust. 

139

Interim

Chapter 6

September 2003 (Tuesday, 3 weeks later), Smallville

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, even more than your Lexus theory," Clark choked out between fits of uncontrollable chuckling as he walked beside Dawn down the country road that lead to their respective homes.

"Shut up," Dawn said, clearly ignoring Clark's chiding, "Have you been to Wyoming? Do you know anyone from there or that's been there? Has anyone famous come from there? Do they export anything that's well known? How do you know it exists? I say it's where the government keeps all their alien artifacts as well as anything else they don't want to find and that anyone claiming to be from there is really a government agent seeding disinformation…"

"People claiming that they're going there are spies in training. So, therefore, Wyoming must not exist. You're right, Dawn, it's a conspiracy. How could I not see it before, Area 51 is just a front to distract us from Wyoming," Clark finished with an explosion of laughter.

She kicked a rock in path and retorted, "Yes, it is and my Lexus theory is completely right. You're just too ignorant to agree with that too."

Clark stopped laughing and grew solemn, "I'm sorry, Dawn. Maybe you're right about the Lexus thing. The plural of Lexus is Lexi." Waiting for her to beam a smile in triumph, Clark smirked and added, "And maybe we live in bizarro-land," before exploding with laughter

Dawn, getting annoyed by Clark's behavior, said as solemnly possible, "it makes total sense. Octopus, octopi. Cactus, cacti. Lexus, Lexi."

Her tenaciousness was too much for the farm boy as he fell to the ground with laughter, and Dawn, clearly fuming, wrinkled her nose at him. Clark, still doubled over in laughter, looked up to see her face and his amusement only increased. Dawn held the look and narrowed her eyes at the farm-boy as he lay gasping for breathe and turning blue. Crossing her arms, she remarked, "Why are you laughing still? Nose-wrinkling is a universal sign of vehemence anger and impending doom." 

Clark stopped laughing long enough to say, "Again, in bizarro-land. Nose-wrinkling is as threatening as a bunny. And who in their right mind would be afraid of bunnies?"

Dawn grew sad and stalked off down the road. Clark recomposed himself and caught up to her, "Dawn, what's the matter? I'm sorry. I went too far and offended you. I didn't mean…"

"It's cool, Clark. You couldn't have known and besides," Dawn recomposed herself as well and replied as they came to the drive of her home, "this is my stop. Thanks for the walk-with."

Before he could reply, Dawn walked towards her home without a look back. It's funny, she thought, three weeks here and this is home. Must be the small town atmosphere. Then again, maybe it's the people. At least things haven't been too Hellmouthy here, it's a welcome break.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

3 weeks before (Sunday), Summers' Home (Lana's old place)

Buffy rubbed her jaw tenderly. It was still a bit sore from her fight with the Devrac. As Dawn came in with a cold packet in one hand and a piece of pie in the other, her sister said, "Thanks Dawn."

"Not a problem," Dawn said as she took a seat at the kitchen table with her sister and started eating apple pie.

"Oh, not just for the icy cold goodness, I think that charm you made for me really turned the tide there for me."

Dawn looked up from her snack and smiled, "Cool, that mean no lecture?"

Buffy wiped her mouth at her sister, and once Dawn cleaned up the stray piece, said, "Yes, no lecture. Though I want you to be careful."

Reading Buffy's thoughts, Dawn replied, "I'm not gonna go scary-veiny on you." Before Buffy could get a rebuttal in, she continued, "Willow would agree with me."

Buffy looked perplexed and Dawn put down her fork and clarified, "I thought she told you. That would so explain why you don't like me using magic. Anyways, before Willow left for South America, I helped her with this augury. I won't bore you with the details, but after we were done, Willow wanted me to cast some spells alone. She said that I seemed to be drawing energy for the spell from somewhere else, she wanted to know from where exactly."

Buffy was clearly intrigued and Dawn smiled proudly. Tucking her right foot underneath her left thigh and onto the chair, she continued, "The energy that powers most magics comes from emotions deep within ourselves, Willow said, but according to what she felt, I wasn't drawing on neither happy (or light) energy nor on angsty (or dark) energy. Turns out that I seem to be drawing power extra-dimensionally. She thinks it has something to do with me being The Key. Though there has been a noticeable increase in the potency of what I can do as I get older, I told her and Giles about the 'cycling' spell I did for your charm. Waiting to see what they think about it."

"Yeah, it would be best to consult them," Buffy replied as she mulled over the impromptu lecture on the nature of magic.

Dawn resumed eating the pie and remarked, "This is really good pie. I'm so glad that Lex gave this to us. He said Mrs. Kent makes and sells them. We haven't had time to go shopping until tonight. Speaking of which, what was up with you and him?"

"Nothing," Buffy said a bit defensively, "I just met him coming home from the Kents. I didn't want to ruin the family time with Clark coming back and Lex just happened to show up and offer me a ride home, is all."

"Uh huh," Dawn said suggestively, "and you just happened to invite him in for breakfast. And then we just happened to notice that we haven't grocery shopped yet. Then, he just happens to make a call to have them delivered to us and wait with us for them. And we don't have to pay for…"

"I think Lex is just one of those nice guys and besides, he's married," Buffy interrupted.

"P-shaw," Dawn said, "I think he's sweet on you and really don't see his marriage lasting long. Notice how he was ally avoidy about the subject, I know you noticed. I saw you noticing."

"You didn't just 'p-shaw' at me," Buffy said, turning a bit red and clearly ignoring everything her sister had said after the offending phrase. Whether the blush was from anger or embarrassment, Dawn couldn't decipher. "So, Chloe's our second slayer, huh?" Buffy asked in an effort to steer the topic away from the man who seemed to have come back from the dead or at least avoided it narrowly.

"Yep," Dawn replied. Buffy silently thanked her for allowing the change of subject, "This has been easy so far. Two down…"

"One to go," Buffy finished. "Well, that makes training easy. Lana and Chloe know each other and live in the same house…"

"Yeah," Dawn said, chewing on her lip, "about that…"

Buffy shot her sister a 'mom' look and Dawn mumbled, "I sorta didn't mention that Lana was a Slayer to Chloe."

As Buffy went from mom to confused, Dawn pleaded, "Chloe remarked how she felt special being a Slayer. It seemed to me that was because she had something Lana didn't. I don't know what you think, but Lana reminds me of Harmony. Just brunette instead of blonde."

"That is so unfair, Dawn," Buffy admonished, "you hardly know her and now you're making judgments."

"You haven't disagreed, yet," Dawn remarked with an insolent smirk.

Buffy snorted in disgust, "I wouldn't say Harmony, more like Cordelia…"

"Ha…"

"Let me finish," Buffy said with authority, "and she only reminds me of Cordy because Lana has the whole Cordette look but remember how good Cordy turned out to be? Point is once you get to know her, she's actually a good person."

Dawn responded by resuming her interest in the pie. Buffy smiled to herself and asked, "But I guess you're right in one way. We should let the girls decide who they want to reveal their 'secret identities' to. In the mean time, until or if we can train them together, you'll have to train Chloe. You two seem to get along."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The following Monday, Smallville High Hallway

"Hey Chloe," Dawn said as she spotted her friend in the hallway of Smallville High.

"Heya Dawnie," Chloe said as she saw the girl make her way through the undulating throng of teenagers. She met Dawn halfway, pointing to the door to The Torch, and said, "First day's always the busiest. Speaking of which how is yours so far?"

"I've got math with Clark, first period. English with Lana second, and now I have a free period. Figured I'd see about maybe joining the Torch," Dawn replied with hope in her eyes.

"That's a great idea," Chloe beamed a smile, "I could use someone to chat and gossip with in here when things are slow and show you the ropes of reporting and researching."

"That's not exactly wha---"

"And you can, of course, tell me more about the whole Slayer gig," Chloe's grin grew wider.

"Am I that transparent?" Dawn asked, surprised.

"Kinda and I was thinking more about everything that's happened these few days. Figured that you might be able to tell me more about what you know."

"I can do you one better," Dawn said eagerly, "I can train you."

"No offense," Chloe said, "but what about Buffy? She is after all a Slayer and according to you, the Slayer for a while there. Who better to train me?"

"Well," Dawn said, "before there were multiple Slayers, who do you think trained them?"

"Oh, good point," Chloe said, "hadn't thought of that."

Dawn laughed then said, "A group called 'Watchers' trained Slayers. I spent time watching Buffy train and eventually training some with her. Besides, Buffy still has to find the other Slayers that Willow detected. With me training you, that gives her time to do that. But if you really want her to train you instead of me---"

Dawn let the question hang in the air while she mock pouted at Chloe. Chloe smile awkwardly at her and stated, "No. No, I was just curious. Journalistic instinct and all. I'll be glad to train with you."

Dawn grinned, "Don't worry, if I was in your place, I'd have the same questions."

"Bet you wouldn't have this one," Chloe said with a touch of arrogance and mischief.

"Won't know until you ask, will we?" Dawn shot back with the same tone.

"What about Lana and Clark?"

"Ha," Dawn said, "already thought of."

"Really?"

"Well," Dawn said as she made an imaginary line with her toe, "Not by me. Buffy figured that out. She can keep Lana from finding out your secret identity. That is unless you want to just tell her."

Chloe blurted out, "You can do that?"

Dawn giggled, "Yeah. Though don't expect people you tell to believe you off the bat. Being a Slayer isn't all cloak and dagger, Peter Parker/Spiderman. Buffy had friends helping her, and I think that's why she survived for so long."

Chloe mulled it over, "I'll feel the waters and see how my friends might react. Plus, I'm sorta enjoying the whole Spiderman/Warrior Angel mystery thing."

"There is a sort of appeal to a secret identity," Dawn said, "I'll give you that."

Chloe chuckled, "Yeah, there is. Well, we got Lana covered. What about Clark?"

"Good question."

Chloe paced the room and finally said, "Well, I suppose that you could always distract him and we can meet up somewhere."

"Me distract him?" Dawn said confused, "Wouldn't you be the better one for that? He is your friend."

"Well, it's a dual purpose really. He can show you some ropes when it comes to journalism. Don't tell him I said this, but he seems to have a knack for it."

"And the second reason?" Dawn asked.

"Clark has a thing for brunettes," Chloe said bitterly.

Or rather a certain brunette, Dawn thought but kept to herself. Changing the subject, Dawn said, "So, until I can get a confirm from Willow, I figured out that vial Buffy got from the Devrac, you know…from Metropolis. I told you about it last night. Anyways, it is definitely strange."

Chloe laughed, "That is intriguing to hear. Especially coming from one of the few people I thought has seen it all. Care to elaborate?"

"Well, it doesn't register as human so I thought maybe it's a sample of the Devrac because if you had one, you could possible clone it with a sp---"

"Wait," Chloe said, "you're sure it's a Devrac that your sister fought?"

"Yuh-huh," Dawn replied, "from her description, it matches the papers and all accounts and descriptions of the species."

"So, not a Devrac sample then I take it?" Chloe said, sitting on her desk, "Otherwise it would be mystery solved."

Dawn pulled up a chair and propped up her feet on Chloe's desk, "Sure, steal my thunder."

Chloe shrugged an apology, motioned to Dawn to continue and then proceeded to chew thoughtfully on a pencil. Dawn sighed, "Yeah. Devrac samples are rare but Giles had one in the database he gave me. I compared. One would assume that we're dealing with an un-catalogued species of demon. Possibly a variant of the Devrac."

Pencil, still in mouth, Chloe said, "Why do I sense a 'but' in all of this?"

Dawn picked up a pen from the desk and threw it at her friend. Chloe caught it before she was hit and shrugged another apology. Recomposing herself, Dawn said, "Because I have a theory---"

"Is it anything like the Great Lexus theory?" Chloe jested.

This time Dawn was quicker with her throw, with an 'ouch', Chloe added, "Sorry, no more interruptions."

"Good. Anyways, if you look at the sample, I mean really look, you find that," Dawn added a dramatic pause, "it seems very alien. It's closer to the Queller demon than anything else. Meaning that came from outer space or some other-space, 'cause it seems to also share traits with the meteor rocks. Well, the Queller was summoned but still, came from the sky and we thought it was from outer space so we can't really discount that."

"So, we may be dealing with some sort of summoned, possibly extra-dimensional meteor mutant?" Chloe summarized.

"Well," Dawn said hesitantly, "there's one hole in that theory."

"Which is?"

Dawn put her feet down and leaned closer to Chloe, saying, "I was putting it away and when it got close to some meteor rock I was studying before."

"What happened?" Chloe said as Dawn paused for the right word.

"It started acting, well, funny," Dawn finished

"I'm guessing not funny as in funny-ha-ha," Chloe said, pondering this piece of the puzzle.

"Yup," Dawn said, "and another thing that was strange. There was half a vial and you'd think that something important enough to lock in a vault would be full. Where's the other half?"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Third Period, Smallville High Guidance Councilor's Office

Clark came through the doorway of the office and his jaw dropped.

"Take a seat, Clark," Buffy said from behind her desk, "From the look on your face, I'm the last person you expected to see here, huh?"

"Your parents didn't mention I was applying for this job?" Buffy said while she straightened out her desk.

"Uh no," Clark said, still standing in the doorway.

"Well," Buffy said, indicating he should take a seat, "I'll try to make this as painless as possible."

Clark numbly took a seat and Buffy stated, "We both know why you're here. I'm supposed to evaluate you before you can officially return to classes. Also, I'm here whenever you need to talk. I know you must hear this a lot but I know what you're going through."

"No offense, Ms. Summers," Clark began.

"Please, Clark, call me Buffy. Ms. Summers makes me feel older than I am."

"Well, Buffy," Clark said, testing the sound of addressing a school official by their first name, "You have no idea what I've been through, let alone what I'm going through."

Buffy chuckled and looked down at some papers, "No offense taken, but you'd be surprised what I've been through. I've been reading up on your files and I've figured out your secret."

Clark blanched and recovered as Buffy brought her head up, "Oh, really? What is it then?"

"You have a bit of a Messiah complex," Buffy stated plainly, "or that's what standard psych would say. However, I use to live on a Hellmouth and know anomalies when I see them and you, Clark Kent, are an anomaly."

"Hellmouth?" Clark said, surprised.

"Your parents didn't tell you about me?" Buffy said, just as surprised.

"No, I mean yes, they did," Clark said, clearly flummoxed and amended, "It's just you're so…so…open about it."

Buffy laughed, "It's not like I'm all Peter Parker about it. Not exactly Fantastic Four about it either and I have been spending way too much time with Xander and Andrew. Anyways, I read your file and you seem like the kind of kid your folks would trust with information like that. Truth is that I could tell everyone about what I am and my abilities but not many people would believe me and that's after seeing it. My mentor, Giles, use to say that people tend to rationalize what they can and forget the rest. Or something like that, I sorta wasn't paying too much attention at the time."

Clark recomposed himself and finally said, "So what's the verdict? You've been reading up on me. Can I go back to class?"

"Clark," Buffy began cautiously, "I know that you probably want to put this all behind you as quickly and quietly as possible but the truth is that life isn't that simple."

Clark took in the information and responded, "So where do we go from here?"

Buffy straightened out her papers and stated, "That all depends on you. Why'd you run away? I mean, from all indications, you're a good kid. Only in trouble once, for assault on some college boys, but that was resolved. You seem to be a bit of a town hero from all indications. If you were a girl, I'd suspect you were a Slayer but you aren't." A sudden thought occurred to her and she blurted, "Unless you're a hermaphrodite…you're not a hermaphrodite, are you?"

"No," Clark said as he turned deep red, "no. Definitely not. All boy here."

Tapping his knee to emphasize his point, Clark's voice trailing off into uncomfortable silence, Buffy breathed deeply and, pretended she didn't say what she did, said, "Good. Good. Now that's settled, why'd you run away? I'm sure it's complicated, it always is."

"Do we have to talk about that now?" Clark said, still uneasy.

"No," Buffy said quickly to move to a more neutral space for the both of them, "we can get to that when you're comfortable. Can we start with why you came back?"

"This is just between you and me?" Clark asked.

"Absolutely," Buffy said with a bit too much pep. She was glad this wasn't as going as horribly as she had initially imagined it would. In order for that to happen would require Clark to transform into some sort of big blue demon of doom. "If it would make you feel more comfortable talking about it, I can tell you about my runaway experience sometime later."

"Yeah," Clark said with a bit of smile and surprise, "I'd like that."

"Good, we'll compare notes later, first you go."

"It was something Lana said to me," Clark said, "well, not really said but wrote. It really made me think and convinced me that things weren't as hopeless as it seemed."

"Aw," Buffy said, "Sorry, but its kinda sweet. I won't ask what she said but I have to ask you some standardized questions." Picking up a sheet, she began to ask Clark some of the evaluation questions that her job required.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

That Afternoon, Torch Office

"Clark, glad to see you back," Chloe said, letting the unspoken question of 'for how long' hang in the air.

Clark shifted uncomfortably, pondering his choice of coming back to this room especially after the waves of ice-cold that Chloe has been giving him since he got back this morning. Dawn broke the tension by saying to him, "Hi. I'm Dawn. Dawn Summers, I just signed up to the Torch today. From what I'm told, you're its ace investigative reporter next to Chloe here."

Clark laughed and Chloe smiled. Clark clarified, "Last I knew, I was the Torch's only other investigative reporter."

"Clark," Chloe said coyly, "you wouldn't mind helping Dawn out from time to time, would you?"

"Uh," Clark said, "I don't see why not." There was something about Dawn that Clark couldn't put his finger on but he felt completely at ease around her. He smiled at Dawn and she returned the gesture.

"Good," Chloe said, "Now that that is settled…was there too many that's in the sentence? Oh well, we got it settled. On to other business."

"Which would be?" Clark asked, clearly intrigued.

"I have a few things that are headliners but I want to hold on Lex's resurrection for now."

"Oh," Dawn interrupted, "I bet I know one of them." Clark and Chloe turned her attention to her and Dawn blushed at her outburst. Forgot Clark doesn't have the 411 on the M'Fashnik.

"Well, Dawn?" Clark prompted.

"Uh," Dawn said, "I was just thinking we still need to track down that Jane Doe and stuff."

Chloe read between the lines and added, "Yeah, that stuff. I was going to take care of that but we could split it that whole thing up." Chloe noticed that Clark was nearing the print-outs that she had on the mysterious Mr. Edge and the M'Fashnik they encountered. She quickly added, "Clark, think you can keep Dawn company and follow up on the Jane Doe? She'll fill you in on what we know."

"Of course he can," Dawn said as she grabbed him by the arm. Maneuvering the boy from the office and away from the papers, Dawn struck up idle conversation with him, "Clark, what would you call more than one Lexus?"

"Uh, Lexuses?" Clark answered. As Dawn began to debate the plural, she and Chloe didn't know that Clark had already managed to see enough. Mr. Edge? It can't be Morgan Edge, could it? What would Chloe and Dawn want with him? I knew I couldn't trust the Summers sisters, but Chloe? I'll have to talk to Lana and Pete. Tell them to keep an eye out and be careful. Buffy knows I know what she is, did she tell Dawn that I know? I better be on guard until I can figure things out.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

September 2003 (Tuesday), Kent Farm

            "Tell Chloe that I said 'hi'," Clark muttered to himself as Dawn walked towards her house. Wow, I've finally gotten use to it being Dawn and Buffy's house. Not Lana's. Three weeks and I still can't make heads or tails of what they're up to. Or what their connection to the Luthors is. Why doesn't Dawn wait for Chloe to leave school and want to walk with me? Chloe always comes over to their place anyways. The recent conversation with Dawn stirred up memories of their first encounter. In a daze, Clark walked to his own home and up the drive.

Clark was still daydreaming of his first impression of Dawn when he noticed a black, tinted sedan parked by his barn. The window opened and he felt a knot in his stomach. The bad feeling became worse as he saw the face behind the window. The familiar voice sent a chill down Clark's spine. Clark glanced towards his house and x-rayed for an ambush of any kind, barely hearing, "You are a tough man to find, Kal. Tough, but not impossible.  Though I must admit, last place I expected to find you."

How'd he find me? Clark thought. Remembering the papers he saw when he first met Dawn, he drew the conclusion, Something in Chloe's investigation on him must've tipped him off. Glad Mom and Dad are at the Farmer's Market.

"I don't know who you are, Mister, but I don't know any one named Cal," Clark replied.

"Oh," Edge said, "I'm sorry to have wasted your time." As if on cue, a shot rang out from the cornfield and a bullet ricocheted off of his kneecap. As Clark blinked in surprise, Edge's voice dropped to a menacing tone, "Now that we've settled that argument. Shall we conclude our business, Kal?"

Kal walked up to the window and matched Edge's tone, "We don't have business."

"On the contrary, we do. Where's my package?"

"I don't have it," Kal said as pressed his hands on the edge of the door and leaned into the window.

"There are others that are searching for you, Kal," Morgan stated casually. Ticking off names with his fingers, he continued, "The police, Lionel Luthor, Wolfram and Hart. All of which you stand to lose something. At least with me, you get something in return. I'd say that is more than fair."

Frustrated, Kal dug his fingers into the doorframe, not noticing the driver of the car slide out and move stealthily towards him. Ripping the door off like a candy wrapper, flinging it far away and holding back his heat vision while he grabbed Edge by the collar and looked him dead in the eyes, stated authoritatively, "I don't think you heard me."

Pulling Edge from the car, Kal continued, "The package doesn't exist. It never existed." Clark knew this wasn't true. During his last few weeks back in Smallville, he had figured out where it had gone. He had seen it and the contents when he had went to pick up Dawn, last week, for their piece on the increase of criminal incidents in the past three years. Unfortunately, Buffy had caught his gaze while Dawn was indisposed. The elder Summers sister said it had to do with a supernatural case she was looking into. When Buffy went to put it away, Clark noticed it reacted strangely to a piece of meteor rock he was being careful to avoid.

Lost in thought, the Teen of Steel didn't notice Edge's nod to his driver. What he did notice was unabashed look of surprise and confusion. Turning towards the driver, with Edge still in his grasp, Kal saw the man holding a golden box with an emerald inside. Smiling in order to mask his own confusion, Kal said to Edge, "Nice trinket. Leave it and you can take your bitch ass back to Metropolis. I don't want to see you or your toady in Smallville ever again. Do we have an understanding?"

"Your choice, Kal. Your choice," Edge replied. Kal let him go and they drove down the drive. As they pulled out onto the road in a cloud of dust, Edge took out a cell phone from his jacket pocket and made a call, "Charity, execute plan B."

Clark scanned the field for the sniper who had shot him earlier, thinking the gunman would already be long gone but wanting to exercise caution. No sooner had he turned his head that an explosion rocked the ground. Looking towards its source, Clark saw the smoke coming from Dawn's place. Remembering Edge's words during their first encounter, Clark sped towards the property and hoped he wasn't too late. I could have whatever or whoever you hold dear. So go ahead, Kal. Do it. I don't make threats, I make promises, Edge's voice echoed in his head.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Sunday (Two days ago), Metropolis

The conversation with Lionel played through Edge's mind as he awaited a call.

"You have 24 hours," Lionel stated bluntly

"24 hours? Lionel, we're talking about tracking down a Devrac. Not your run of the mill demon. This is the first one that's surfaced in 400 years. It may be the last of its kind. I don't even think your lawyers could deliver on that timetable."

"Very well, 72," Lionel smiled, "Starting now. Don't think I won't forget being generous."

The sound of Tshaikowski's SwanLake brought him out of his reverie. Flipping open his phone, he said impatiently, "Report."

"We've found him," Mercy said evenly. She knew that her boss was frayed and watched her tone carefully.

"Good," Edge said, the relief escaping with his reply. Rapping his fingers on his knee, he inquired, "And the leverage?"

"Also acquired sir," Charity carefully worded.

"I've know you too long, Charity. What's the but?"

"The Slayer, sir," his Lieutenant responded.

"Ah, the other one, what was her name?" Edge asked, his fingers halting from their rhythm.

"Buffy Summers," Charity stated, "However, I think I may have found a way around that. Also, I think we may able to double the leverage."

"Explain."

"The Devrac seems to be working on a farm in Smallville. It also seems to have an attachment to two girls, a Miss Lana Lang and Miss Chloe Sullivan. I believe we may be able to strike and capture both. The Slayer spends a lot of time with Miss Lang, I'll need more people."

"Whatever it takes, Charity," Edge said wearily, "Just get it done."

"Understood, sir. What about my counterpart?"

"Capture her if possible, she'll make a fine trophy. If not, kill her," Edge stated with a finality that indicated the conversation's end.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Slightly before Edge's Call, The Talon

Buffy sat at the counter, staring into her cup of black coffee. Taking a sip, she muttered to her cup, "Work faster." With an afterthought and growl, she added, "And better." So intent on her drink, she didn't notice Lana until the girl giggled at Buffy's remarks.

"Coffee's not exactly sentient, you know?" the brunette remarked. The Talon was having a slow day, there were only five other customers within it. As Lex walked through the door, Lana noticed and whispered to Buffy, "Your beau is here."

Buffy dropped her head onto the counter with a resounding thud. Muttering to Lana, she said, "Will you all please stop? We're just friends and tell Dawn to stop spreading her theories. This is just as bad as the Wyoming one."

"Wyoming?" Lana asked. Not waiting for an answer, she remarked, "Well, if Dawn is to be believed: Lex may not be centuries old but he sure is a guy with a dark past who may or may not be evil."

"Hello, ladies," Lex said as he approached the bar counter. A cell phone rang in the background while Lex remarked to Lana, "Slow day, huh?" He never heard an answer due to the fact that all three of them were suddenly peppered with tranquilizer darts. Buffy had three put in her, each with enough to knock-out a rhinoceros. Lana was the only one left standing. Looking up from the dart in her arm to the source, she saw her patrons all holding guns. The shock they wore was visible from her drug induced daze. Sluggishly she tried to rush the nearest one. She had only made it three steps before she was peppered with darts.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Meanwhile, Summers' Farm

"I can't believe you told him that," Chloe said as she fine-tuned a combination on the make-shift wooden dummy they had constructed in the barn.

"I can't believe he laughed at me," Dawn said as she leaned against the barn wall near the weapons cache.

"Well," Chloe said as she finished the combo by breaking one of the 'arms' on the rotating dummy, "I hate to break it to you but most people believe that Wyoming does exist."

"That what they government wa---"

"So, Buffy has a date with Lex today, huh?" Chloe interjected, not wanting to debate this for the umpteenth-million time with Dawn.

"Yep," Dawn said, "though she says it's 'just coffee' but anyone with a brain could tell you that those two are digging each other. Did I call that or what?"

"I had the same guess about the marriage thing," Chloe said, "but thought you were crazy about Lex having a thing for your sister. I still don't think he has a 'dark past', more like a rebellious one. I have to admit, it looks like I could be wrong."

"Just like Wyoming," Dawn shot back.

"Whatever," Chloe said as she stretched out and then asked, "What's next?"

"Your favorite part," Dawn grinned wickedly as her friend groaned. Moving away from the wall, Dawn's dress snagged on a nail. "Ack." Chloe laughed and Dawn shot daggers at her then continued towards the weapons cache to throw actual ones at the blond.

Chloe deflected the sharp implements of death with ease. However, the last dagger was not where she thought it should have been and ended up catching her left arm.

"Ow," Chloe said as she went to her knees in pain. Dawn came up and apologized profusely. Tearing the part of her dress that had ripped off, she made a make-shift bandage. As Dawn wrapped the garment on her arm, Chloe said, "It's totally not your fault. I have other things on my mind."

"Like?" Dawn prompted as she tied off the garment piece.

Chloe looked Dawn in the eyes, and then directed her gaze to the floor, "Lana. Or more specifically---"

"Lana and Clark," Dawn finished for her friend.

Both girls remained kneeling and Chloe confessed, "Yesterday, or rather last night, while I was coming back from patrol, I saw Lana sneaking into her room. She did it with such ease that I suspect she's been at it for quite sometime."

"Oh," Dawn said, careful not to reveal what she knew about Lana. With an afterthought, she added, "I'm sure there's an explanation."

"I'm sure there is. Like her and Clark sneaking off at night to have sex," Chloe said sardonically.

Dawn didn't have time to answer as Chloe pushed her face down into the ground, bounding over the Summers girl and said, "Incoming." Without a hesitation, Dawn muttered a firebolt spell and turned to let it loose at where she judged the attacker to be from the sound of Chloe's efforts. She regretted her action as she turned to see Chloe fighting nothing while a man stood off to her left with a rifle. The bolt of fire she let loose sped out of the barn, striking Chloe's car and causing a powerful explosion.

The rifle went off and Chloe was struck with a tranquilizer dart. Struggling against the effects, she made her way towards the figure and let loose the combination she was practicing earlier.

Whether it was the darts or something the man was doing, Dawn was unsure but either way, all of Chloe's efforts were easily avoided. Not wanting to give the man any advantage, Dawn closed her eyes and incanted a 'psychic punch' towards their assailant.

With her eyes closed, Dawn failed to see the man knock Chloe out with the butt of his rifle, scoop the unconscious blonde up and stride towards the open barn door behind Dawn.

Clark arrived at the Summers' farm and saw the smoldering remains of Chloe's vehicle. Hearing sounds of a struggle, he super-sped to the barn. Upon arriving, he saw that Dawn's eyes closed, apparently in some sort of trance. He also saw a man bearing a rifle and carrying Chloe, walking away from the scene towards the other side of the barn. Without a second thought, he let loose he heat vision towards the ground behind the man in order to get the kidnapper's attention.

As the heat ray traveled on its course, Dawn opened her eyes and vocally intoned the last part of the spell, "Oshitsukeru." The combination of magic and alien caused a puff of smoke around the target areas. When it cleared, the man and Chloe were nowhere to be seen.

Dawn and Clark looked at each other, realizing what they had just witnessed. Clark had an ominous feeling that Dawn had somehow sensed his use of heat vision as she eyed him warily and said, "What are you?"

"I don't know what you mean," Clark said with as much confusion as he could muster.

"Liar," Dawn said, her brow furrowing, "you got here in a split second. I could've sworn that you let loose some sort of fire spell plus a dozen other anomalies regarding you prior to now."

"I don't know what you're---" Clark was interrupted as Dawn said forcefully, "Tsuriageru." With that word, Clark found himself flung across the remaining space of the barn and floating a few inches off the ground in front of the girl.

"I don't have time for this," Dawn said with hardness in her tone, "If you have anything to do with this…if anything happens to Chloe…"

She let the implication trail in the air and Clark sensed the eternity of torment it suggested. "Since I have no way of knowing the truth of what you say, I have no other choice," Dawn said as she placed her hands upon his temples and incanted, "Tagen."

What was meant to be a simple truth spell, had unintended consequences. The core of Dawn's spell expected a human or demon vessel. It was not prepared to find something entirely alien. The two teens' heads looked skyward and their eyes rolled into the back of their heads. Dawn floated alongside Clark, though she wasn't aware of her physical location. In her mind, she saw the same images from her encounter with Jor-El. Those pictures continued to play out, she saw the ship crash onto Earth in a hail of fire. She saw the Kents finding a small boy along with the ship. She saw feats of strength and speed that rivaled any Slayer or demon that she had ever known. In the span of a few seconds, both Clark and Dawn bore witness to the entirety of a life that was not their own.

They fell to their knees and looked at one another. Clark, with blood streaming from his nose, stared at an equally confused and shocked Dawn. Dawn, with blood flowing from her eyes, stared back and said, "Kal-El?"