Chapter 23: Houdini

"No," the stalker said into his radio. "What? … Yeah. Probably. You going to check with Tucker? … Nah, I'll walk. Tell Pierce to park it around back … Yeah? Well, it's not far … See ya in a couple." He stuffed the radio into his pocket and then holstered his gun.

Buffy and Dawn watched as he returned to the street. There he met up with a second man. They headed east as the sisters followed along the rooftops via teleport. By the third turn, Buffy and Dawn knew where they were going. They were heading for the hotel the Winterbournes had been staying in.

The men didn't walk straight in the front lobby of the hotel once they had reached it, instead they went around to a side door. The stalker leaned against the wall as his friend fiddled with the lock. Two minutes passed. Then the door opened and they slipped inside. Dawn counted to twenty, and then she grabbed Buffy's hand and disappeared in a flash of green reappearing inside an emergency stairwell.

The two men were above them when they appeared. Buffy and Dawn followed them up to the fourth floor and watched them open the exit door, and peer out. After a few moments of discussion, the stalker's companion slipped into the hall, leaving stalker-guy in the stairwell. So as to have a better vantage point at which to see what was going on, Dawn teleported herself and Buffy up above the stalker on the stairs. The stalker's partner was at room 406. The Winterbournes. He was crouched before the door, fiddling with lock-pick tools, he tried the door handle several times, then turned to his partner and shook his head. Finally the stalker waved him back. The sisters' quickstepped up three steps, out of sight. The lock-pick guy came into the stairwell and closed the door.

"No go," lock-pick guy said. "I don't get it. I'm sure I popped the lock, but it won't open."

"Dead bolt?"

Lock-pick guy shook his head. "I checked out the place this morning. Old-fashioned key locks."

"Call Tucker. I saw a pay phone out front. Ground line. I'll wait here."

Lock-pick guy trotted down the stairs. Stalker-guy cracked open the exit to look down the hall. Then he made a noise deep in his throat, a stifled chuckle. The sisters snuck down a few steps, crouched again, and looked through the door crack.

Paige Winterbourne stood in the hall, surveying the corridor. Then she stopped and stared at the exit where they hid. She narrowed her eyes and started toward them.

Stalker-guy took out his gun. Then he eased the door open another half-inch and lifted the gun to the door crack. Dawn looked to Buffy who nodded in agreement. They had to do something, if they did nothing at all then Paige would die and they would be to a murder after the fact. So Dawn leapt over the railing and landed on the man's back. He fell forward. She grabbed his head and twisted his neck. As he dropped face-first to the floor, Dawn looked up to see Paige holding the door open and staring at her as Buffy dropped down beside her.

"Stand guard, Buffy," Dawn said as she looked at Paige. "Is your room unlocked?"

"My—? Umm, yes." Paige said.

Dawn hoisted the dead man onto her shoulder and pushed past her into the hall.

"Where are you—oh, wait. My room? You can't put him—" She stopped. "Take him to the suite next to ours. The near side. It's empty."

"All the better," Dawn said as she disappeared in a flash of green.

Paige looked at Buffy. "She must be really powerful. Very few witches can teleport without severe headaches and nosebleeds. Even fewer can do it wordlessly."

Buffy smiled. "She was given her magic by an actual god."

"Ah," Paige said. "Who? If you don't mind my asking."

"Calypso," Buffy said as Dawn reappeared.

"Buffy the gun," Dawn said as Buffy grabbed the gun. She turned and looked at Paige. "Wake your aunt. As soon you're ready I will teleport you both into that room."

Paige hesitated and then jogged to her room.

Dawn teleported Buffy into the room. "He's in the bathroom," she said. "Search him and see if you can find out who he is."

"Dawn," Buffy said. "Did you have to kill him?" she asked.

Dawn sighed she knew how much Buffy hated killing humans. "Would you rather he killed Paige?"

"No," Buffy said as Dawn teleported out. She headed into the bathroom closing the door behind her. She checked his pockets for ID. Nothing. Seeing the two-way radio in his pocket reminded her that there was a second gunman.

Buffy opened the bathroom door as Dawn teleported in with Ruth and Paige. Both carried a change of clothing and their purses. "Good idea," she said. "Is all your ID in there?"

"No sense leaving them any clues if they break in," Paige said. "If we have to, we can leave the rest of the stuff behind."

"Paige told me what happened," Ruth said. "We're very grateful. Also very impressed. You have excellent reflexes, Dawn."

"Self-defense classes," Dawn said as she looked at Buffy. It was the truth to a certain extent she had learned some from Buffy and Faith after her return from the past and before she and Buffy had returned to the past.

"Still not admitting to the werewolf thing?" Paige asked.

"Actually," Dawn said. "Buffy has been a good teacher. When you're the kid sister to the Slayer you have to know how to protect yourself just in case you ever get taken as bait for your sister."

Ruth nodded. "A sensible precaution."

Buffy walked to the bathroom and held open the door. "Either of you ever seen this guy before? Don't touch anything. The cops will dust for prints."

"Cops?" Paige repeated.

"Yes, cops. Who do you think will handle the murder investigation? Hotel security?" Dawn said.

"Murder? You mean he's dead?"

"No. He's resting comfortably," Buffy said. "People always sleep best with their heads at a ninety-degree angle. He looks comfortable, doesn't he?"

"There's no need for sarcasm," Paige said tightly. "Maybe you two are used to hauling corpses around, but I'm not."

"Look I'm the Slayer, hauling demon corpses and disposing of them is part of the job," Buffy said.

"Besides," Dawn said, "you're supposed to be a witch and you've never had to kill anyone? I've helped Buffy kill tons of demons and a few vampires."

Paige's voice tightened another notch. "We use alternate methods of defense."

"Like what? Cast a spell to make your attackers think happy thoughts? Turn their guns into flowers? Peace and love for all?" Dawn said.

"I'd have used a binding spell," Paige said. "Kept the guy alive so we could question him. Wow. There's a novel idea. If you hadn't killed him, maybe we could have talked to him."

"Oh, that's right. Paige's ultra-efficient binding spell, the one I broke within two seconds of your casting it," Dawn said. "Just so you know some demons are actually resistant to magic. You know what, forget it. Next time Buffy or I see a guy pointing a gun at you, we'll let you do things your way. You start your invocation and see if you can finish before he guns you down. Deal?"

Paige opened her hand and telekinetically pulled the gun, from where Buffy had set it down, to her hand. She opened it, removed a tranquilizer dart, and held it up. "No one wanted to kill me."

"Are you sure about that?" a male voice asked.

Dawn and Buffy looked at each other. Their respective senses going wild as they spun around. In the corner of the bedroom stood a man. How had he gotten in? Wouldn't they have heard him pick the lock?

Buffy looked at the door it was still closed. She was sure the lock hadn't been picked. Which meant he could teleport.

"I'm glad to hear you wouldn't have killed poor Mark," the man said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Very sporting of you. I guess what they say about witches is true. So selfless, so concerned for others, so unbelievably naive."

Buffy and Dawn stepped toward him.

"Don't!" Paige hissed.

"These are the werewolves?" The man said as he looked at Buffy and Dawn. "Better than I expected. So, are you two coming along? Or do things have to get"—his smirk broadened to a grin—"physical." The sisters glanced at Paige and Ruth. "Oh, they're coming too. But I'm not worried about them. Only witches, you know. They'll do what they're told."

"Only witches, hunh?" Dawn said and shook her head. She opened her magic senses and found the man was half-demon. "Anyways you're kidnapping us?"

The man yawned. "Looks that way, doesn't it?"

"What's in it for you?" Paige asked.

"See?" The man said. "That's witches for you." Dawn rolled her eyes. "Make me feel guilty. Appeal to my kinder, gentler side. Which might work, if I had one."

"So you're working for Ty Winsloe?" Buffy said.

"Oh, come on, ladies. As much as I'd love to chat about my motivations and the Yankees' chances at the World Series—"

"They have none," Dawn said to distract him. She had noticed that Buffy was getting ready to lunge at him. "It's going to be Toronto Blue Jays against the Atlanta Braves."

As Buffy lunged he teleported. She whirled around to see the man standing by the bedroom door.

"Is that the best you can do?" He sighed. "Major disappointment."

"Excudo!" Dawn yelled as she threw out her arm toward him.

A powerful blast threw him backward into the wall as he vanished. "Interesting. Not just a werewolf but a witch as well. You know I'd love to give you two another chance, but my compatriots are coming. Can't let them find me playing with the enemy. They wouldn't understand. Humans."

He bent to grab the tranquilizer gun Paige had dropped. Ruth's lips moved. The man stopped in mid-reach, fingers close enough to flex and touch the metal. But his hand didn't move.

"Go!" Ruth said, snatching her purse from the floor. "It won't last."

Paige and Ruth sprinted across the room, grabbed Dawn and Buffy's hands. "He could break it any second. Teleport, now!"

Dawn nodded as she smiled and waved at the half-demon and then the four of them disappeared in a flash of green.

"A very powerful one," he said once Ruth's binding spell had released him.

Dawn, Ruth, Buffy and Paige appeared in the sisters' hotel room.

"He was a demon wasn't he?" Buffy asked Dawn.

"Half-demon, like Angel's friend, Doyle," Dawn replied.

"One with a teleportation power," Ruth said, "unlike Dawn's, which likely has a limited range, probably no more than five to ten feet. Offspring of a minor demon, hence the diluted power. My guess is that's the best Winsloe and his bunch have. That's why they want better specimens. And now he has seen you teleport and use magic, Dawn."

"They'll be coming after me," Dawn said with a sigh.

"I'm sure he like most demons, werewolves, vampires can sense or smell that I am a Slayer. If he tells them and regardless if they would want me on their side or not, they would be interested in my abilities. Just as they would yours or Dawn's."

"Quite right," Ruth agreed.

Buffy and Dawn lent Ruth and Paige some clothes and then they decided it was time to split up.

"Take care," Ruth said. "Watch your backs and go straight to the airport. We'll see you at the meeting."

Once Paige and Ruth had left, the sisters grabbed their stuff, got out, caught a cab to the airport, and called Jeremy. They explained everything that had happened so far. When they were done he said, "That doesn't sound good. Okay where are you two now?"

"At the airport." Buffy said.

"Good. Were you going to fly or teleport?"

"Fly," Dawn said. "The half-demon already saw me teleport. So I don't want to risk that they have a way of tracking me via my magical energies. Less magic I use for now the better."

"Good. Don't fly to Syracuse. Buy a ticket for Buffalo and watch out for curious onlookers. I'll meet you both at the airport."

By the time their plane touched down, Jeremy was waiting for them.

"Okay," Dawn said as she and Buffy drew up beside him. "Tell us we overreacted."

He took their bags. "Certainly not. Far better than ignoring it and, say, not calling me as soon as you found out about these women."

"Sorry," Dawn and Buffy said.

He waved off the apology. "We're on top of it now. We're heading straight to Vermont. I've packed our bags. It doesn't seem wise to return to Stonehaven until we know more about this threat."

"So we're going to the meeting?" Buffy asked.

"We don't have much choice. These wi—," he suddenly remembered where he was at, "—women seem to have all the answers."

Dawn nodded. "So we're getting information from them, not joining them?"

Jeremy chuckled. "You sound relieved. Don't worry, Dawn. The Pack doesn't need any outside help. And you need not worry about the fact you are one of them as well as one of us. If it came down to a fight of us against them, we would protect you."

"I know," Dawn said as she decided to change the subject. "We tried calling Clay from the airport, but he was out. "We left a message saying I needed to talk to him. Should we try him now?"

"He got your message and called home. I explained what happened. I think it's best if he doesn't join us for this meeting. Somehow I doubt he'd be on his best behavior."

"I can see it now," Buffy said. "Charging into the meeting, demanding answers, and threatening to throw someone out the nearest window if those answers don't come fast enough. And that would be his best behavior."

"Exactly. Not quite the entrance I had in mind. So I downplayed the danger and told him you two and I could handle it. I'll keep him updated, and if things prove difficult, he can join us."

"What about Nick and Antonio? They're in Europe for another two weeks," Buffy said.

"Three," he said. "I phoned and told Tonio to be on the alert. If we need them, we'll call. Otherwise, even if this threat is real, Europe may be the best place for them. Out of danger."

Dawn nodded. "So it's just the three of us."

Jeremy chuckled again. "We both know because of what you two were before you were bitten that you are stronger than even I."

"How many times do you all have to bring up the fact that you all can tell that I'm an Alpha?" Buffy asked. "You have nothing to worry about, Jeremy."

"I know, Buffy," Jeremy replied.

The meeting was being held in Sparta, Vermont. Jeremy called Ruth number and told her they'd arrive Monday, though they actually planned to arrive Sunday when the meeting actually started. Jeremy figured if it was a trap and that the lie would throw Ruth and the others off-guard when they arrived early.

The next morning they drove into Sparta. "Odd that they'd pick such a small town for their meeting," Dawn said.

"Maybe," Jeremy said, "but how many of those people walking around do you think actually live here?"

"Ooops, we passed it," Buffy said, she had been keeping a lookout for any signs leading to their destination. "Sign for the Legion Hall back there. Sorry."

Jeremy turned around and headed back. As they passed the Legion Hall he slowed to look at it, then continued down another hundred feet and pulled into a dead-end lane. They approached the hall with care, Buffy was in the lead. And her leading had nothing to do with Jeremy or his role as Pack Leader either. Her werewolf enhanced Slayer senses were sharper than their plain werewolf senses.

"Dawn," Buffy said as they walked. "Can you do aura sight?"

"Aura sight?" asked Jeremy with confusion..

"Why didn't I think about that when we met Ruth and Paige," said Dawn. She looked at Jeremy. "With Aura sight I can see everyone's auras. It's not a foolproof way of telling if someone is lying but it can give an indication. If someone is lying their aura will shift. You can generally tell even if someone is evil or good by their aura. Give me a second and I will give you a demonstration."

They paused as Dawn sat in the grass and closed her eyes. A moment passed before she reopened them and stood up. "I have to place myself in a trance to use aura sight. Now Jeremy we'll use you for this demonstration. Yours is more of a gray. A solid white means your one hundred percent good, solid black one hundred percent evil. Yours is gray because of your decisions as Pack Leader. But it's a lighter shade of gray which means you are predominately good. The reason for it being gray to begin with is the decisions you have made as Alpha, including any mutt deaths at your hands."

"Interesting," Jeremy said. "And you can tell if someone is lying also?"

Dawn nodded. "As I said there will be a subtle shift in someone's aura. If you were to lie your aura would shift darker for a moment before settling back to its lighter color. A lie won't permanently shift your aura darker. Now if you're one hundred percent evil a lie won't show up. But a truth would as your aura would get lighter."

When they got to the hall, they noticed several cars, one of which had Massachusetts plates.

"I see the witches drove," Buffy said.

Jeremy bent to read the schedule posted behind a cracked glass case.

"So what are we booked under?" Dawn joked. "The New Age Alternative Lifestyle conference?"

Jeremy laughed. "No, the Corporate Technology Workshop." He pulled on the door. It didn't budge. "Locked."

"Guess the powers are bound to fail once you hit a certain age," Dawn teased. "Allow me."

Jeremy stepped aside with a mocking half-bow. Dawn stepped up and held out her hands as she closed her eyes. He had seen her do this before. He knew what she was doing, extending her magical senses to detect magic. "A locking spell," she said when she opened her eyes, "which I can break. But we don't want to anger them till we got what we came for. So shall I knock?"

"Be my guest," Jeremy said.

Dawn knocked and a few moments later, Paige answered.

Her eyes widened as she opened the door. "You're early."

"Is that a problem?" Jeremy asked.

Paige shook her head. "No, of course not. Come in and meet everyone."