Chapter 24: Introductions

Paige led them down the hall into the main room. There were four people on folding chairs around a folding wooden table; two women and two men. They spotted the agenda posted on a board as they walked in.

"At least they're organized," Jeremy murmured.

Everyone turned as they walked in. Ruth stood. "Hello," she said. "I thought you weren't coming until Monday."

Jeremy nodded. "Our plans for the weekend fell through."

"Oh? Oh, well, yes. Come in then. Everyone, this is Jeremy … Jeremy Danvers, the … leader … I hope that's right, leader? … of the—"

"Jeremy is fine," he finished. "This is Dawn and Buffy."

The young man with the blond-tipped hair grinned. "The infamous werewolves? Funny, you don't look like werewolves. No connecting eyebrows, no hairy palms. Damn. Another myth shot to hell. And I thought all werewolves were male." He looked at the sisters. "They are definitely not guys."

"Women's lib," Buffy quipped. "We're everywhere now."

The young man's grin broadened. "Is nothing sacred?"

"Dawn and Buffy are the only female werewolves that have joined the Pack," Paige said as she walked to an empty chair. "Werewolves are made two ways, by inheriting the genes or by being bitten. Most werewolves are hereditary, since few people bitten by a werewolf survive. Because the genes pass only through the male line, female werewolves are extremely rare, but not unheard of."

Buffy looked to Dawn as she remembered her first encounter with a female werewolf. The one Oz had killed before he had left Sunnydale to learn to control the wolf.

The young man rolled his eyes. "Next on the Discovery Channel, an in-depth examination of werewolves and feminism by Paige Winterbourne."

"Go to hell, Adam."

"Don't rush me."

"Ignore them, please," Ruth said. "Adam and Paige have known each other since they were children. Sometimes I suspect they haven't come very far in the intervening years. Now, introductions. This one beside me is Paige and that young man is Adam, in case that wasn't perfectly obvious. Our younger generation. The poor man stuck between the two is Kenneth. On Adam's other side is Cassandra."

"That's not what you really want to know, is it?" Adam said. "At least, that's not the good part, not who we are, but what we are, right? Though it's probably better to explain the two separately or it ends up sounding like an AA meeting for the damned. 'Hi, my name is Adam and I'm a half-demon.'" He looked at Buffy. "And you …" he sniffed, "are a Slayer."

"Retired," Buffy said. "You have nothing to worry about from me even when I was actively patrolling as I only went after those that were evil, you know the ones who wanted to end the world. Kill off humanity."

"Then you have nothing to fear from me."

"But," Buffy said as she looked straight at Cassandra. "Hello, vampire. What are you doing here?"

"This is a neutral meeting, Buffy," Ruth said. "They are in just as much in danger as we are."

"Very well," Buffy said. "Outside this meeting. I would highly suggest, vampire, that you don't feed from humans while you are in town. I won't hesitate to dust you."

"Duly noted," Cassandra said.

"And last but not least, Ken who is a shaman," Ruth said.

"So that's it," Adam said. "The major supernatural races, all in one place, like Satan's Ark."

"Adam, please," Ruth said. "Adam likes to joke, but I can assure you, we are not evil, well except maybe Cassandra. Vampires are generally not good. Some maybe morally gray though. Cassandra I would say is more morally gray."

Buffy and Dawn knew it was possible for there to be a morally gray vampires. Before Spike had gotten his soul and after he had been chipped he had fallen into the morally gray area.

"Just regular folks," Adam said. "With a few quirks. Chairs." He scrambled to his feet. "You guys need chairs. Hold on. I'll be back in a flash."

"Before we begin, we need to clear up one thing. I don't mean to sound suspicious—" Jeremy said.

"Don't apologize," Cassandra said. "You should be suspicious."

Jeremy nodded. "Although Adam so neatly categorized everyone and Buffy identified one of you herself, you can see where we might be in need of more … concrete evidence." He looked to Dawn who nodded.

"State your names and what you are," she said.

Ruth smiled. "Aura sight?" she asked as Dawn nodded. "Ruth Winterbourne, witch."

"Paige Winterbourne, witch."

"Cassandra, vampire."

"Ken, shaman."

"Adam, half demon," Adam said as he returned with the chairs.

Dawn looked at Jeremy and nodded. "Their telling the truth. Other than Cassandra's there was no flicker darker to indicate a lie. Cassandra's actually flickered lighter to indicate she was telling the truth. They are what they say they are. And personally I can vouch for Ruth and Paige being witches. I can feel the magical energy radiating off them. Just as Buffy's Slayer senses detected that Cassandra is a vampire."

"I have a question for Cassandra out of curiosity," Buffy said. "How are you out in the daytime?"

"And not exploding in a cloud of dust?" Cassandra asked and Buffy nodded. Cassandra smiled as she held up her hand.

"The Gem of Amara," Buffy said surprised to see the ring. She had given the ring to Rei after taking it from Spike so that her lover could be protected as the ring would make Rei invulnerable to having her head chopped off.

"I assume you've seen it before?" Cassandra asked.

"A long, long time ago," Buffy said.

"Now that's out of the way," Jeremy said. "I'd like to learn more about these men who stalked Dawn and Buffy."

"I heard about that," Adam said, grinning at the sisters. "The first casualty of war. Way to go. I'm jealous."

"You would be," Paige said.

Ruth glanced at the two with a look of warning. They shut up. She then began her story. "Five weeks ago, a shaman had been kidnapped and had contacted Kenneth via astral projection," She said as Jeremy looked to Dawn who quickly explained what Astral Projection was. "By the time he contacted Kenneth, he was in rough shape. The shaman was never physically strong to begin with, so it didn't take much rough treatment to injure him. Because of his weak condition, his report was patchy and at times incoherent. From what Kenneth could make out, the shaman had been kidnapped by two men and taken to a compound a full day's drive from his home in Virginia. There, two other men had questioned him about his powers and abilities. In the early days of his captivity, the shaman had enough strength to astral-project through the compound at night, searching for clues about who had captured him and why. He'd learned the names of the two men who'd questioned him, Lawrence Matasumi and Tyrone Winsloe. Winsloe's name meant nothing to the shaman or Kenneth. Apparently, knowledge of current events didn't rank high in shaman priorities."

"While this shaman had been astral-projecting, he'd found that he wasn't the only supernatural being in the compound. His captors had a teleporting half-demon on their staff. He also heard that a sorcerer was assisting them, though he never saw the man. As for the other captives, when he first astral-projected, he found a witch, two half-demons, and a Vodoun priest," Ruth said.

Jeremy looked at Dawn at the mention of the Vodoun priest.

"I've heard of them in magical texts but never met one," Dawn explained. She looked to Ruth. "They practice voodoo correct?"

"That is correct," Ruth said as she returned to her story. "Then the witch disappeared and he learned that another, stronger witch had been targeted to take her place. That was all the shaman knew. He'd promised to contact Kenneth again the next day but never did. When Kenneth conveyed the information to me, Paige recognized Winsloe's name and used the Internet to track down Lawrence Matasumi, a renowned parapsychology researcher."

"Have you had any luck finding these men?" Jeremy asked when Ruth finished.

"Find them?" Adam said. "Hell, no. We figured we'd hide out and pray they don't find us."

"Actually, we've been debating that very matter," Ruth said.

"Have we?" Adam said. "I thought it was decided. Reactive, not proactive. That's our way. Well, it's the way of the witches, and since they lead these meetings—"

"No offense," Dawn said. "But why are you guys defensive only? That was never how I was trained."

"It's just the way we are, Dawn," Ruth said to Dawn.

"Anyways," Adam said, "I was saying that, as our esteemed leaders, the witches, generally make such strategic decisions, they've decided we're ducking for cover."

"We need to discuss the matter further," Cassandra said. "This is a new situation for us. We've never had to worry about finding those who threaten us. They come to us, like the Slayer."

"But with these guys it's different," Dawn said. "So, different threat, different response, right? They're hiding, so you need to find them."

"And do what?" Paige asked. "Ask them to stop harassing us?"

Jeremy looked at Ruth. "If we find the threat, we eliminate it. That's our way."

"Sign me up," Adam said.

"We are going to take action," Ruth said. "You know that, Adam, although our idea of action may not match yours. This is a serious threat, and I'm not comfortable even gathering here to discuss it. No matter how careful we were in setting up this meeting, we have eight supernatural beings in one place, each of whom these men would love to collect. Some more than others."

"Is that what they're doing?" Jeremy asked. "Collecting?"

"We aren't clear on their motives," Ruth said. "That wasn't something Roger—the kidnapped shaman—was able to determine. From what he observed, we gather that they're studying us, trying to get to the root of our powers."

"So they can find a way to use them for themselves," Paige said.

Ruth frowned. "We aren't sure of that. I don't like jumping to conclusions, but yes, that would seem to be a viable motivation. Or they could be out to exterminate all of us, but that does seem less likely. The presence of Lawrence Matasumi on their team would suggest strong scientific interests."

"And the presence of Ty Winsloe means someone's expecting to cash in big time," Paige said. "Winsloe's no philanthropist. The guy wouldn't cross the road to save an old lady unless she'd leave him her estate for his inconvenience."

Ruth frowned. "Perhaps. The point is, though, that the likely outcome is that they seem to want to harness our powers. For personal gain or in the name of science, it doesn't matter."

"They can't get my powers," Adam said. "Strictly hereditary."

"You sure about that?" Paige said. "Maybe if they take you apart, organ by organ, they can find exactly what in your physiological structure gives you these powers. Of course, whether they found it or not wouldn't matter much to you, since you'd be in a bunch of little autopsy bags."

Buffy and Dawn looked at each other. They remembered Adam and the Initiative. They knew the Initiative had roots going all the way back to 1942 so they knew that the organization existed now. The question was could this Ty Winsloe be somehow affiliated with them?

"Nice visuals, Paige," Adam said.

"The point is," Ruth said, "we don't know what they can get from us. Some things, like minor spells, can be learned. As for becoming a werewolf or vampire, that's a frighteningly simple matter. What if these men began selling the ability to become a werewolf or even a vampire?"

"I have to say at least from mine and Dawn's perspective that is a frightening notion," Buffy said as Ruth nodded in agreement. An army of Slayer/werewolf or even witch/werewolf hybrids would be unstoppable.

"I'm sure plenty of people would see the advantages to superhuman strength," Ruth agreed. "Of faster reflexes, faster healing.".

"Not to mention prolonged youth, or even immortality," Paige added as she looked at Buffy and Dawn in particular.

Buffy and Dawn nodded in agreement. They would be highly sought after not just as a Slayer, a werewolf or a witch. But because they had drank from the Fountain of Youth. A lot of people would sell their souls to live forever.

"You'd have morons lining up ten deep for the prospect of prolonged youth or even immortality," Paige continued. "The latest alternative to plastic surgery: Become a werewolf."

"The point is," Ruth said, again, "that by having the ability to do these things, to freely—or not so freely—distribute these powers, these men could upset the balance of nature. People would die. Humankind would be at risk, threatened by the worst kind of excesses, immortal dictators, spell-casting tyrants, serial killers who could take the form of wolves—"

"Been there, done that," Dawn murmured with a glance at Buffy.

"We have to think beyond ourselves," Ruth said.

"Do we?" Cassandra asked. "I care what this threat means to me. If you tell me these men want to kidnap me, that's a good enough reason for me to take this seriously. The question is, what are we going to do about it?"

That certainly was the question. And they spent the next seven hours discussing it. The plan was this. Step one, each delegate was to notify his or her fellow supernaturals. And therein lay the first problem. Most supernaturals had no contact with each other. Jeremy would notify the Pack of course just as Ruth and Paige would notify their Coven. But vampires and demons had no real way of spreading the word around. Just as spreading the word to the mutts would be near impossible.

Step two, learn more about the enemy. Everyone agreed on the principle. They had to know more. And step three? The group was divided between witches and shamans wanting to find a way to discourage or discredit their antagonists, and werewolves and half-demons wanting to eliminate them. Cassandra didn't care much one way or the other, so long as these people went away and left her alone.

At seven they broke for dinner. Everyone except Cassandra, who had the foresight to bring blood with her, would drive to Kingston, eat there and then return. As everyone left the hall; Jeremy Buffy, and Dawn were walking to the Explorer when Ruth called him over. Jeremy motioned Dawn and Buffy toward the SUV and strode back to Ruth.

"Scary bunch, huh?" said Adam as he jogged up beside them. "So, what was the scariest part? The flip-board agenda? The powdered doughnuts?"

Buffy smiled. "Please tell me the witches aren't charging a quarter for coffee and doughnuts," she quipped as Dawn rolled her eyes.

"No, no, no. Didn't you see the sign. It's fifty cents for a coffee and a doughnut. A quarter each. Seriously, though, that's Legion stuff. But the flip-board and the schedule were definitely Ruth's doing. A guy who used to be a delegate told me that, years ago, the witches had a mission statement and a code of conduct for these meetings. I think he was kidding, but I've never been sure."

"So, they're always so … earnest?" Dawn asked.

Adam laughed. "Earnest. That's a good word to describe witches. Well, maybe not Paige or apparently yourself, Dawn, but certainly Ruth and the rest of them. Deadly serious. This is important stuff, damn it." He rolled his eyes. "Everyone's got to have a hobby, and with the witches, it's organizing these meetings. Hey, is it true one of you gave Paige those bruises around her neck?"

"It was a misunderstanding," Dawn said.

He grinned. "I'll bet. I'll also bet she deserved it. Paige can be a major pain, but she can also be a lot of fun. You have to be careful which side of her you land on." He glanced back at Jeremy and Ruth. "So, you think your leader can talk these guys into taking action?"

"If he can't, we'll do it ourselves. We aren't accustomed to taking orders from others," Dawn said.

"My kind of people. That's what we need in these meetings. A strong, nonpassive leader."

"A male leader?" Buffy asked.

"I didn't say that," Adam said as he quickly backpedaled. "It's not a gender thing. It's a race thing. Most witches and shamans aren't like us. And vamps? Well, they're not like anyone, which is exactly how they like it. Cass can kick ass if she wants. Guy shoots you; you just keep walking and grab the gun. Very cool."

Just then Paige joined them.

"I'm going with you," she said to Adam. "Kenneth offered to drive Ruth. I'd go along, but at the speed he drives, I'd faint from hunger before we reached the restaurant." She glanced at Dawn and Buffy. "Want to come with us?"

The sisters were about to decline when Jeremy waved them over.

"Dawn, I still have some negotiating to do. But I believe based on what Ruth has said. They may be willing to allow you to have your own Coven, if you so choose," Jeremy said. "I know that had been a concern for you that they might try and force you to join them and from what we heard in the meeting it is possible that they might have just done that. I will let you know if I am successful before we leave town."