Chapter Four – Unsettling
"Adam, are you ok?" Ximena asked as he entered the bedroom Linton had prepared for them.
"Quite alright my dear," Adam answered.
"You've seemed distracted ever since you met with Ms Summers and her friend," Ximena noted. "Don't say you haven't been. I know you too well. Did your meeting not go well?"
Adam favored her with a smile. Hiding things from her was always next to impossible. "It went quite well. Dawn was exactly as Gray described her. A rather extraordinary young woman."
"So what has you so distracted?" Ximena pressed. "Is it her age? She does seem rather young to be involved in your other profession."
"Actually Dawn and most of her associates have been actively involved in my other profession since they were teenagers," Adam said. "And yes that does trouble me."
"But that's not what is really bothering you," Ximena noted. "Can you talk about it?"
"Unfortunately no," Adam replied. "I am afraid this situation is even more delicate than Gray first indicated. Not that I blame him. He could not have told us anymore than he did without breaking some very strict confidences."
Adam reflected on the day. Dawn's age was troubling as was the fact that she and her sister had been actively combating the dark since they were teenagers. From his brief conversation with her and some the tales Gray provided of their exploits after Dawn and Kennedy had left he found himself for the first time in many years out of his depth. The kind of power Dawn and the Slayers dealt routinely was incredible. That they seemed to treat it as a matter of course was disturbing.
"I understand my dear," Ximena replied. She paused. She recognized her husband's mood. Something was troubling him. He was trying to work it out in his head. She loved him deeply but this part of his life always frustrated her. The way he couldn't share certain things with her. Most frustrating of all was that she wasn't able to help and support him as much as she wanted to. She didn't have his calling or his talents in the esoteric arts. That forced her to sit on the periphery.
She shook her head and decided to change the subject. "So, Julia and I were thinking we would take the opportunity in London tomorrow to see some galleries. Julia also wants to visit one of her old voice coaches. He's working with a theatre group now days. Do you think we will have the time?"
Adam smiled. "I suspect you shall."
----
"This must be the place," Peregrine said from the passenger's seat. "Although it's not what I expected."
Adam was forced to agree. They had followed Sir John's directions to the letter.
The Council's London Headquarters was in an industrial section of the city, less than a mile from the port. The compound was surrounded by a large brick wall that was topped off with alternating metal and wooden spikes.
As Adam pulled the car up to the main gate he saw the small nondescript sign on the wall. It said simply "I.C.S.W. – Jenny Calendar Foundation – Guardian Research." Adam rolled down the window.
A few seconds later a woman's voice came over the speaker. "This is Abby, how can I help you?"
"Dr. Adam Sinclair and Peregrine Lovat," Adam replied. "We are here to see Ms Summers."
"You're on the list," Abby said. "Parking is too your left. The main entrance is down the path. Have a pleasant day."
The gate opened and Adam started to pull the car forward. Immediately both he and Peregrine blinked as they crossed the main threshold. The warding around the building was very impressive, Adam thought. He barely detected it until he crossed the threshold. Someone put a considerable effort into shielding the property.
The building was only two stories tall. It was solid brick construction. It looked like it had been one of the many trading houses built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to service England's growing empire. Adam parked the car and led his group up to the main entrance.
The main lobby was well appointed. As Adam had expected from the exterior, the space had an old world feel. He could see signs of the modern world here and there. The computer on the desk and a few other things.
"Dr. Sinclair," the woman said. "Dawn will be down in a minute. If you all will just sign in here."
"The ladies will not be staying," Adam said. "They are here to drop us off before heading out to see the sights of London."
The woman nodded as she handed Adam the sign in sheet.
The woman spent a few seconds studying both Adam and Peregrine very carefully. With his Sight Peregrine could see a slight shimmer around the woman. For a brief moment Peregrine could have sworn her eyes changed into those of a hawk.
The shimmer vanished and her eyes returned to normal. She spoke to Adam and Peregrine. "Dr. Sinclair. You can bring your rings into the facility but we don't permit weapons of any kind beyond this point without authorization from a senior Council member. You will need to leave your dagger here. I can assure you it will be stored securely."
Adam was startled. Somehow she knew about the Adept rings both he and Peregrine carried. But even more shocking she knew about the skean dubh he carried in his bag. He could believe that someone could sense the magic from the dagger. But to know the source of that magic spoke of a very sensitive individual and/or very sophisticated protective wards.
"I understand of course," Adam replied. "But I may require for my work."
It looked to Adam like the woman was about to object when the door behind the desk opened.
"He can keep his dagger Abby," Dawn said as she walked into the room.
Abby nodded. "Very well."
Dawn nodded and turned her attention to her guests. "Welcome to the headquarters for the I.C.S.W," she said holding out her hand.
"Thank you," Adam said shaking Dawn's hand. "Too be honest this is not quite what I expected."
"We get that a lot," Dawn said. "We have time. I can give you a quick tour."
"That would be interesting," Adam said. "Just permit us to see Ximena and Julia off."
"Not a problem," Dawn said. "It's good to see you again ladies. Where are you off too today?"
"We're going to be looking at some galleries," Ximena replied. "And we're planning on visiting one of Julia's old voice coaches."
"You sing?" Dawn looked at Julia.
"In my church choir," Julia answered. "I've also done a few private performances at parties and social events."
"She has a lovely voice," Peregrine said. "I believe it was the first time I heard her sing that decided I was going to marry her."
Julia blushed. "Peregrine, really."
"I'll have to see if I can find the time to see a performance," Dawn said. "You two have a good time."
"We will," Ximena said. She shifted her attention. "Adam, call us when you are ready to be picked up."
"Of course my dear," Adam replied.
Dawn watched as Adam and Peregrine saw their wives off.
"If you'll follow me I'll give you the quick tour," Dawn said motioning the two men out of the lobby.
---
About an hour later Adam and Peregrine were being led down a hallway on the second floor. Adam had to admit that he was impressed. Dawn had explained that the building had originally been a smuggler base in the early 1800's. As such there were a number of underground chambers and passageways. The British military had taken it over and extensively renovated it in WWII. The four underground levels now housed the Council's library and archives.
Adam had just about gone into shock when he saw the library. Thousands of books on the occult and dozens of other subjects. Dawn mentioned that the Council was still trying to recover from the loss of the old Council's restricted archive which apparently had contained some incredibly rare and one of a kind items (some dating back over 3,000 years).
They had been interrupted a couple of times by people asking Dawn for some help on their projects. Both Adam and Peregrine were impressed by the depth of Dawn's knowledge.
"Just how many languages do you speak?" Peregrine asked.
"Speak?" Dawn replied. "About five fluently and I can fake my way through three or four others. I read and write fluently in about 20. And I get by in quite a few more."
"Twenty languages!" Peregrine exclaimed. "That's incredible."
"You know, it wasn't until I went to college that I realized knowing so many dead languages was weird," Dawn said. "I grew up around people who swore in Sumerian. By the time I started college I already knew Latin, Greek and Arabic fluently and was passable in Sumerian and Yiddish, a couple of gypsy languages and even a demon language or two. My professors just about flipped. I was translating stuff that gave grad students headaches. One of the reasons I got through Oxford in two years was because they let me skip most of the preliminary classes in languages and mythology."
"Have you always had such skill with language?" Adam asked.
"I guess so," Dawn answered. "I was always good in school. Unlike Buffy, I actually liked studying. When it comes to languages I just have a feel for them. If a language is closely related to one I'm already familiar with than it usually only takes me a couple of days to figure out the basics. If it's something completely new to me I can usually figure it out in a few weeks if I have a big enough sample. Why?"
"I was thinking perhaps it was related to your other gifts," Adam said.
Dawn shrugged. "At this point anything is possible. I'd prefer to think it's just because I'm smarter than everybody else. Not that I have an ego or anything."
She led the two through a set of double doors into a small reception area. A man, who appeared to be in his late twenties are busily typing away on his computer. Dawn paused.
"Thomas," she said. "This is Dr. Adam Sinclair and his associate Peregrine Lovat. Gentleman this is Thomas. He's Giles' and my administrative assistant."
"Gentlemen," Thomas said rising from his desk to shake their hands. "A pleasure. Will you require anything?"
"Just the usual platter Thomas," Dawn replied. "And see that we are not disturbed unless it's an apocalypse."
"Of course Ms Summers," Thomas nodded his head. "I don't believe there is one scheduled until next month."
Dawn smirked and looked down at Thomas' desk. Adam saw her eyes narrow. "Is Giles dictating his e-mails again? You need to tell him to join the rest of us in the twenty first century."
"I would prefer not to listen to another extended speech about 'those damned infernal machines' that according to Dr. Giles are far more destructive to the soul than an army of demons," Thomas answered with a smile. "Besides this is considerably more enjoyable than writing up draft budgets."
Dawn flashed him a look than led Adam and Peregrine into her office.
Adam took a moment to study the room. Two of the walls were dominated by bookshelves lined with various references works. At first glance most seemed to related to the occult, mythology and history. One half of the room was a seating/meeting area with a small table and four comfortable looking chairs. The couch under the window looked positioned in such a manner that Adam could easily see how a person could stretch out on it while reading.
The desk was perpendicular to the window. The computer was positioned in such a way that the screen could not be seen either from the window or by anyone else in the room. What few areas of the wall not taken up by shelves were covered in pictures. Most were of the same group of people.
Peregrine took moment to study them. He recognized Dawn's sister Buffy. The others usually featured a red-headed young woman, a dark haired young man with an eye patch and an older gentleman with glasses. A dark haired young woman appeared in several often accompanied by a tall Black man with a shaved head. He recognized Kennedy in some of the pictures, almost always by the redheaded woman's side. A few other people appeared.
Dawn noticed Peregrine's attention on the pictures. "Most of those are of the other Scoobies."
"Scoobies?" Peregrine asked with some confusion.
"Technically I didn't exist when they started using the name, so you can't blame me," Dawn said. She pointed to one of the pictures. "You've seen Buffy. The red head is Willow, pirate guy is Xander and the distinguished looking gentleman is Giles. That's the core group. They've been with Buffy since the first day she arrived in Sunnyhell. The other people are ones we've added since then. You've met Kennedy, the other brunette is Faith, Robin's with her and the rest are friends and fellow Slayers."
"Willow is the woman Gray said aided her in transporting you into the astral realm," Adam noted. "She is quite young to possess such power."
"I guess so," Dawn said. "According to a reliable source she was the most powerful witch in the western hemisphere six years ago."
"And now?" Adam asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say it's a bad idea to annoy Willow," Dawn replied. "Although she prefers to keep the serious mojo to a minimum, channeling huge amounts of magic is very tricky."
Dawn motioned Adam and Peregrine to take the chairs in front of her desk.
As he sat down Adam decided to speak to Dawn about what had been troubling him. "If you will forgive me Dawn, but I find it somewhat unsettling that you can speak so casually about things like apocalypses and powerful witches. I have been involved the esoteric world for most of my life. I have learned that it can never be treated lightly."
"So have I," Dawn countered. "My sister goes out every night and kills vampires. I use to play chess with Willow, she use to practice her magic by moving pieces around the board with her mind. Hell, I even had a vampire sitter a few times."
"A vampire sitter?" Peregrine gasped.
"Government implanted chip in his head," Dawn said. "He couldn't hurt humans. Like I tried to explain yesterday, I lived on Hellmouth. Take everything you've seen with the occult and multiply it by a hundred and that's Sunnydale on an average day. Demon bars, vampires roaming the streets, at least one attempt to blow up the world every year. It was, for a few years, the most active spot of mystical convergence in the world. The effects spread out over most of southern California. Why do think LA is such a weird town? It had the highest population of demons per capita of anyplace on Earth."
"There were that many evil creatures in LA?" Peregrine asked.
"I said demons," Dawn said. "Not all demons are evil. We even have a couple working for us. You met Abby downstairs."
"The young woman was a demon?" Adam didn't recall feeling anything odd from her.
"I thought I saw her eyes change for a moment while she looked at us," Peregrine said.
"She's a conspiciotin demon," Dawn said. "They're peaceful. They have the ability to see weapons and mystical objects even through shielding and concealment spells. They can also 'see' intent. They use those talents to avoid more violent demons. The coven Willow works with came up with the glamour that makes her look human. She can catch stuff our warding spells miss. And by the way she's not that young, at least by human standards. We just celebrated her 215th birthday last month."
"And you consider all this normal?" Adam asked.
Dawn shrugged. "Pretty much. Look, Adam, I can understand how this can seem odd to outsiders. But this is my life. I mean we pretty much established yesterday that up until eight years ago I was a green glowing ball of energy. A demon manning the reception desk seems pretty normal after that."
"I suppose," Adam said. He still found it a little difficult to take in. His involvement in the esoteric world began as a young man. Over the years he had seen many extraordinary things and experienced what many would consider impossible. But he still retained a relatively normal life outside of his duties as Master of the Hunt.
For Dawn and the others involved in this Council, the esoteric was the norm. That was their lives.
"As I said," Adam began. "This is a bit much, even for one with my experience to take in."
"If it's any consolation I totally freaked the first time I saw vampire burst into dust," Dawn offered.
Adam nodded. "It does help. I suppose we should be getting started."
"So how do you want to do this?" Dawn asked. "Willow's tried teaching me a few basic meditation techniques to help me search in my own mind. But I haven't really been able to get anyplace."
"Yes," Adam said. "You mentioned that yesterday. However you also indicated that the Order Dagon made it so even you did not remember being the Key. That leads me to believe that a direct approach will most likely not be effective."
"So what did you have in mind?" Dawn asked.
"Have you ever been hypnotized?" Adam asked.
"You mean other than by jacket that makes whoever is wearing it an instant chick magnet?"
"Excuse me?" Peregrine said.
"Sunnydale, weird town," Dawn said. "The answer would be no."
Adam decided to let the comment pass this time. "Then allow me to assure you that you will retain control and be aware of what is happening. Together we will try and work our way around whatever blocks the Order placed in your subconscious regarding the Key."
Dawn paused in thought for a moment. She'd already made up her mind about this. "Ok then. Let's get started."