Chapter 33: Crises

"Doctor Carmichael wants them upstairs now," Tucker said.

Xavier kept walking, so Buffy and Dawn followed to Savannah's cell where he reached for the door handle.

"Don't you dare," Tucker hissed.

"Relax, old man. You'll give yourself a heart attack."

"I'm in better shape than you'll ever be, boy. You're not taking these … young ladies into that cell," Tucker said.

"Why? Afraid of what'll happen? Five supernatural beings in one place. Imagine the incredible concentration of psychic energy," Xavier said in a passable imitation of Matasumi. He pushed open the door.

Savannah and Ruth sat at the table; heads bent together as Ruth drew imaginary lines on the tabletop. As the door opened, they jerked apart. "Oh, it's just you," Savannah said as Xavier stepped inside. "What's the matter? Can't zap through walls anymore? That'd be a shame, losing your one and only power."

"Isn't she a sweetheart?" Xavier said, looking back at Buffy and Dawn as Ruth shushed Savannah.

Ignoring the older woman, Savannah stood and craned her neck to see behind Xavier.

"Who's with you?" she asked.

"Guests," Xavier said. "But if you're not going to be nice—"

Savannah dodged past him and looked up at Buffy and Dawn. She smiled. "You're the new ones, the werewolves." She looked at Ruth. "Your right. She is powerful."

"Their names are Buffy and Dawn, dear," Ruth said. "It's not polite—Come in, Dawn, Buffy." When they did, she embraced them. "How are you, dears?"

"Surviving," Buffy said her eyes on Savannah. Now that she got a closer look at the young girl. She saw features she recognized, features she herself had. Especially the eyes, Savannah had her eyes.

"I heard the most awful thing about that poor Miss Bauer—" Ruth said.

"So, what happens when you Change into a wolf?" Savannah asked. "Does it hurt? Is it gross? I saw this movie once, about werewolves, and the muzzle came right through this guy's mouth and ripped his head—"

"Savannah!" Ruth said.

"It's okay," Dawn said, smiling. "But we don't have much time. They're taking us upstairs." She glanced at Ruth. "Is everything going well?"

Ruth looked at Savannah. "Very well," she said.

"Tucker's getting restless," Xavier said. "We should go."

"Bring them back some time," Savannah said, returning to her seat. "I'm out of Mars bars, too."

"And remind me what should compel me to do you these favors?" Xavier said. "Your boundless charm?"

Savannah gave a mock sigh. "Fine. Get me some candy bars and I'll play Monopoly with you. Since you get so bo-o-o-red."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, dear," Ruth whispered.

"It's okay," Savannah said. "He's a really shi—crappy player. We can both beat him."

"You're having trouble contacting Paige," Ruth said.

Buffy and Dawn jumped and glanced over at Xavier. He was still bantering with Savannah.

"He can't hear me," Ruth said. "Remember telepathy. Don't answer aloud, though. Just nod."

The sisters nodded.

Ruth sighed. "I was afraid of that. I spoke to her yesterday, but when I tried this morning, I couldn't contact either you or her. Perhaps it's because I'm concentrating too much of my energy on the child. I had no idea how powerful Savannah would be. Her mother had great potential, but she never lived up to it. Too undisciplined. Too inclined toward … darker things. With the proper training, this one could be, well maybe as powerful as you are Dawn. And remember Dawn you have choice to make. Take her to Paige or you train her yourself. After what I'm doing, Savannah must not be left on her own. As for renewing contact, try to relax, dears. It will come. If my energy returns, I'll communicate with Paige myself and get a message to you both."

"—poker?" Savannah was asking Dawn and Buffy.

"Hmmm?" they said.

"Do you two play poker?" she said. "Xavier says he won't play because we need a fourth person, but I think he's just scared he'll get beat by a girl."

"Good night, Savannah," Xavier said, ushering Buffy and Dawn out of the cell.

"Not the dark Mars bars," Savannah called after him. "They give me zits."

Xavier chuckled and pulled the door shut. Tucker still stood in the hall; arms crossed. "So? See any unidentified flying objects? Did the walls come crumbling down?"

Tucker only glared. Xavier grinned and led them toward the exit.

"You don't believe that psychic energy explanation?" Dawn asked as they walked. "What do you think it is? A poltergeist?"

"Pol—?" Xavier started, then his lip curled. "Leah."

"She seems to think—"

"I know what she thinks." Xavier opened the security door. "Her poltergeist theory."

"If you don't believe in them," Buffy said. "That's your problem. But I've dealt with them as the Slayer."

Xavier nodded.

"There you are!" a voice called.

Buffy and Dawn looked to see Carmichael bearing down on them.

"You," she said to Xavier. "I should have guessed. I asked for Dawn and Buffy over twenty minutes ago."

"If it was an emergency, you'd have come yourself," Xavier said.

"It's an emergency now." She waved him off. "Go make yourself useful for once. Maybe you can help—"

Xavier vanished. Carmichael sighed and then propelled the sisters to the elevator and to the infirmary.

There was no emergency. The spot where Bauer had injected herself was gushing a thick, stinking, blood-streaked pus and had swollen to the size of a golf ball, which threatened to cut off circulation to her lower arm. Buffy and Dawn advised Carmichael against fancy medical cures. The transformation had to run its course. Simple, almost primitive medicine was the only solution.

Carmichael decided Buffy and Dawn should move permanently into the infirmary. Naturally, Matasumi wasn't fond of the idea. He argued with Carmichael and, as usual, lost. Buffy and Dawn were given cots and round-the-clock guards, one in the room and two outside the door. Then the sisters made a demand of their own. They wanted their manacles removed. If Bauer regained consciousness, they needed to be able to defend themselves. The four of them argued over this, but Matasumi and Carmichael finally relented, agreeing to remove Buffy and Dawn's handcuffs in return for posting a second guard inside the room.

Hoping to hear from Paige, Buffy and Dawn mentally compiled a list of questions to ask Jeremy.

It didn't happen. Paige never contacted them.

The next day began with back-to-back medical crises. First, more seizures. Then, before Bauer recovered from that, she stopped breathing. Her throat swelled and the muscles thickened as she started to Change from human to wolf. Her underlying anatomy wasn't ready yet for the transformation. Buffy tilted her head back, straightening her windpipe, and Dawn massaged her neck, pressuring it back into human form. That worked, but too slowly. Carmichael began worrying about oxygen deprivation, and the sisters had to agree. So she performed an emergency tracheotomy. Once Bauer was breathing, they could relax. For a while.

Later that day, Buffy and Dawn got to see Armen Haig again and the Vodoun priest, Curtis Zaid, who was still very much alive. When the sisters tried talking to Zaid, he blocked even such pleasantries as "good morning" with baleful glares and silence. Definitely not a potential ally. Armen, on the other hand, was a very promising prospect. He conveyed the information he had gathered in his desire to escape.

In Ruth and Savannah's cell a man in a bowler hat appeared. Ruth looked up as Savannah became frozen. "Who are you? And what did you do to her?" she asked.

"My name is Whistler; I am a Balance Demon that works for the Powers that Be. And what I did to Savannah is I froze her. When we're done talking only one second will have passed for her. Now Savannah will be going with Dawn and Buffy."

"Why?" Ruth asked, puzzled. "Why are you taking the decision out of Dawn's hands on who will train her?"

Whistler smiled as he sat next Ruth. "Because Savannah is not Eve's daughter. Eve adopted her, Eve had found she was infertile and when she sensed Savannah's magical potential, she adopted her thinking she could train Savannah. Eve could not, Savannah is more powerful than Eve could comprehend, and it's why she delved into the dark arts. Savannah is like her aunt."

"Aunt?" Ruth asked.

"Dawn," Whistler said as Ruth's eyes went wide. "That's right Savannah is Buffy's daughter. When Dawn was bitten Buffy had left for Toronto six months earlier, with the excuse of setting up their new identities since they had been planning on moving there. Buffy in reality was just beginning to show. And when Savannah was born, she gave her up for adoption. You see both Buffy and Dawn up till that time believed they were infertile because of the Fountain of Youth, and yes, they are immortal. Anyways the Pack noticed how protective Buffy was of her sister. What they didn't know was the reason why. Yes, Buffy has always been protective of Dawn. But over the last two hundred years that protectiveness had died down. It didn't flair back up till Buffy gave birth to Savannah. You see giving Savannah up was the hardest thing in the world for her. But she and Dawn thought they were infertile, a price for their immortality, it wasn't of course as Buffy found out. But she didn't want to get Dawn's hopes up. The reason I am telling you all of this is because Savannah here is of a new race as you would call it. Can you guess what?"

"The Slayer?" Ruth asked as she looked at the twelve-year-old girl.

"That's right," Whistler said. "She is the first in a line of hereditary Slayers. Well technically Buffy is or was before she was bitten."

"But if that is true how does she have magic?" Ruth asked.

"Because of Dawn," Whistler said. "While traditionally magic is handed down from mother to daughter as it has been in Dawn's own line. Yes, Dawn has a hereditary line; it dates back from before she drank from the Fountain. Her last surviving descendant is just as powerful as Dawn. But I digress. The Powers believe that what Dawn and her own descendant do in the future created a latent gene in both Buffy and sister, Faith, which made it so that they had the potential to start a hereditary line of Slayer witches. That is the reason Savannah must return to her mother. Sometime in the near future Savannah's Slayer abilities will awaken. And in this time period only her mother can train her."

"Will she be immortal like them?" Ruth asked.

"Sadly no," Whistler said. "While Savannah's age will slow down when she reaches maturity. She will not be immortal. Buffy will have maybe two centuries with her at best. But she will watch her daughter grow up and die. Just as Dawn will when she and Clayton finally have children. That has always been a price of immortality. I know Dawn would like to find a way to reverse the Fountain's effects on them and I hope she succeeds but it is likely she won't. It is very likely that Buffy and Dawn will be the last people on this planet when all the other races have died out or moved to the stars."

"Is there nothing you or these Powers that Be can do?" Ruth asked. "To reverse it?"

"It is possible, I guess," Whistler said. "They both have earned their rewards many times over. Whether the Powers will grant it I don't know."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

In the infirmary the next crisis was another bout of seizures. After Buffy, Dawn and Carmichael had subdued Bauer, Dawn couldn't sit still and prowled the infirmary, touching this, playing with that, until her knees banged a steel cart and Carmichael finally looked up from her paperwork.

"Would you sit down?" she snapped. "Before you break something."

Dawn walked to the chair next to Buffy, looked at it, and then paced to Bauer's IV.

"Don't—" Carmichael began.

"What's in there?" Dawn asked.

"It's a general solution, mostly water with—" Carmichael stopped, seeing that Dawn had already moved on. "Is it close to your time to Change?"

Dawn and Buffy looked at each other and they counted back. They had last changed five days before, on Monday. While they could hold off as long as possible, eventually their bodies would force the Change. They had agreed it would be best to try and put it off as long as possible as they didn't relish the idea of an audience.

"No, not yet," Buffy said.

"I'm just restless," Dawn said. "I'm not used to being in such a confined space."

Carmichael capped her pen. "I could probably arrange for you two to take a walk through the compound. Under sufficient guard. I should have recommended some exercise in your program."

"Exercise?" said a voice from the door. "Don't be talking like that in my compound."

"Hello, Tyrone," Carmichael said without turning to face him. "Did you need something?"

Winsloe sauntered into the room. "Just what you've got there. Thought I'd keep Buffy and Dawn company for a while, let you do your work."

"That's very … considerate of you, Tyrone, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait if you need to speak to either Ms. Danvers. I was about to call for some additional guards to take Buffy and Dawn for a walk. Dawn's restless."

"Restless? Is she ready to Change?"

"No, she is not." Carmichael thumped her clipboard onto the counter and headed for the intercom.

"It should be soon. Maybe they both need—"

"They don't."

Carmichael hit the intercom button. Winsloe walked behind her and clicked it off.

"You said they need exercise?" Winsloe said. "What about the weight room? Get some extra guards and I'll escort them myself."

Carmichael paused for a second. "I don't think that's such a wise idea. A walk—"

"Won't be enough," Winsloe said, grinning his little-boy grin. "Will it, Dawn? Buffy?"

Buffy looked at Dawn and they considered it. While they'd rather walk and explore the compound, they also had to ingratiate themselves with Winsloe, to give him a reason to keep them alive. "A weight room would be better," Buffy said as Dawn nodded in agreement.

Carmichael's eyes met the sisters, conveying the message that they didn't have to go with Winsloe if they didn't want to. When they both glanced away, she said, "Fine," and punched the intercom button.

The weight room wasn't any larger or better equipped than the one at Stonehaven. It was little more than fifteen feet square with a multi-use weight machine, free weights, a punching bag, a treadmill, a ski machine, and a StairMaster.

Three guards were working out when they arrived. Winsloe ordered them to leave. One did. Two stuck around for the show. Two girls lifting weights. Obviously they hadn't been to a public gym in a very long time.

Neither sister pumped iron for long. Every time they sat down, Winsloe was there, checking their weight load, asking how much they could manage. Buffy didn't like the idea; she was stronger than any other werewolf known to exist. Jeremy had compared Dawn and Buffy once. Buffy could lift twice what Dawn could.

So, they abandoned the weights. Next, they strode to the punching bag. Dawn put on the gloves as Buffy stood to spot her. Once both girls had the chance to warm up on the bag then they would spar. Buffy and Dawn had sparred together since Dawn's return after Willow Elizabeth had been born.

Dawn knocked the bag a few times, reminding herself of the stance, the motions. Then she switched off with Buffy who repeated the exercise. And then the girls faced each other and they started. Lightning-fast punches and kicks followed. Neither sister liked the idea of giving these people a demonstration. But they hadn't sparred in over a week and it felt good to let go.

Thirty minutes later, sweat plastered Buffy and Dawn's hair to their heads. "Shower," they said.

Winsloe pointed to a door. "In there."

Buffy and Dawn strode toward it. He followed, along with two guards he waved forward. The sisters stopped, turned on their heels, and glared at them. Winsloe only watched them. Then one of the sisters snapped, this time it was Dawn.

Dawn grabbed her shirt, ripped it off, and then hurled it into the corner. Her bra followed. Then her jeans, her socks, and finally her underwear. Pulling herself straight, she glared at Winsloe. Then she stormed into the shower room.

Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed knowing she might as well do the same thing. As she removed her clothing, she constantly glared at Winsloe. Then she too stormed into the shower room. Grinning, Winsloe followed the sisters into the communal shower room, gesturing for the two guards to follow, and proceeded to watch Buffy and Dawn bathe. When he offered to wash their backs, they slapped his hand away.

Winsloe lost his grin. He stomped to the faucets and turned off their hot water. Buffy and Dawn made no move to defy him by turning the hot water back on and finished their ice-cold shower. That placated him enough to hand them each a towel when they were done.

When Buffy and Dawn emerged from the shower room, a guard told Winsloe that Carmichael had been calling. She needed Buffy and Dawn. Winsloe walked the sisters to the infirmary. After he left, Buffy and Dawn discovered there was no real crisis, just a mild spell of seizures. If Carmichael had used the excuse to rescue them from Winsloe, she gave no sign of it.

That night, Buffy and Dawn were curled on their cots, Buffy was already fast asleep when Dawn heard a voice.

"Dawn?"

"Paige," Dawn said.

"No, it's Ruth," Ruth said.

"Ruth …" Dawn started intending to warn her about that "psychic events" in the cell were increasing. A guard had come in earlier after having pieces of a plate embedded in his head when he entered Ruth and Savannah's cell. And that it had been attributed to the "psychic events."

"I know," Ruth said. "I'm trying to get it under control. That's not why I contacted you tonight. And only you. You will have to find a way to broach this to Buffy. I had a visit from someone you know. Said his name is Whistler."

"Whistler?" Dawn asked. Why had the Balance Demon contacted Ruth?

"Was Buffy seeing someone before your move to Toronto?"

"Not seriously, but yeah why?"

"This Whistler said she was pregnant," Ruth said. "That Savannah is her daughter."

Dawn looked over at Buffy wondering why Buffy had never told her.

"He said that you both had thought the Fountain had made you infertile. Then she became pregnant and so as not to give you false hopes she gave her daughter up for adoption. Eve adopted her when she realized Savannah was a hereditary witch."

"But if Buffy is Savannah's mother, she's not a hereditary witch."

"That is true and not true. He had said Powers That Be, that's what he called the people he works for, believed that a spell you and your descendent do in the future created a latent gene in Buffy that she was able to pass on to her daughter. That's not all, a new race was created the day Savannah was born. Can you guess what?"

"Slayer?" Dawn asked as she once again looked at her sister.

"Correct," Ruth said. "Whistler said she will come into her Slayer abilities in the near future. He didn't give an exact date. But I'd hazard to guess around the same time Buffy received hers. And for that Savannah needs to be with her mother. Buffy and you will need to train her in her magic and in her Slayer abilities. Now you know why I said you will have to broach this carefully with Buffy."

"Thanks for telling me, Ruth," Dawn said.

"You're welcome, Dawn and goodnight."

Hours later Dawn and Buffy awoke to the sounds of people scrambling about as they grabbed various medical instruments.

"Can I do anything?" the sisters' guards said.

"Yes," Carmichael said. "Move!" She thrust him out of the way with the crash cart and pushed it out the door. Buffy and Dawn tumbled from bed and followed as did their guards. By the time the guards, Buffy and Dawn arrived at the elevator, the doors were closing behind Carmichael. They waited and got on when it returned. They then went down. To the cells.

"What's happened?" Dawn asked.

Three guards ignored her. The fourth paid her the courtesy of a shrug and a muttered "Dunno." When the elevator opened on the lower level, the guards remembered their job and flanked the sisters as they headed down the hall. Once through the secured door, they heard Savannah's voice.

"Do something! Hurry!"

The door to Ruth and Savannah's cell was open, letting voices stream into the hall.

"Calm yourself, Savannah," Matasumi said. "I need the guards to explain what happened."

Dawn winced as she looked at her sister. Had her niece caused another guard accident? So soon?

"I didn't do anything!" Savannah shouted.

"Of course, you didn't," Carmichael snapped. "Now get out of the way. All of you."

"There's no need for all this equipment," Matasumi said. "There weren't any vital signs when I arrived. It's too late."

"I'll say when it's too late," Carmichael said.

As the sisters wheeled into the room, Savannah launched herself at Buffy. Dawn watched as Buffy instinctively wrapped her arms around the girl. Dawn wondered if subconsciously if Buffy knew if that was her daughter.

"I didn't do anything!" Savannah said.

"I know," Buffy murmured. "I know." She touched Savannah's head and stroked it. Remembering one time she had done this to Dawn. It had been just after she had found out Dawn was the Key. It had been the moment despite what she had learned that she indeed did love her baby sister.

Dawn craned her neck to see over everyone's heads. "Where's Ruth?" she asked.

Savannah stiffened, and then pulled back from Buffy. Dawn and Buffy looked at Savannah and then at each other and they knew in that instance that Ruth was on the bed.

"Oh no," Dawn whispered.

"I—I didn't do it," Savannah said.

"Of course not," Buffy said, pulling her back to her.

Matasumi turned on the four guards who'd come down with Buffy and Dawn. "I want to know what happened."

"We just got here," one said. He motioned to the guards surrounding the bed. "They were on the scene first."

Matasumi hesitated, then stepped toward the bed and tapped one guard's arm. As the guard turned, a commotion erupted in the hallway. Two more guards burst in, guns in hand.

"Please!" Matasumi said. "We didn't call for reinforcements. Return to your posts."

Before they could move, another guard entered, accompanied by Leah.

"What—" Matasumi sputtered. He stopped and regained his composure with a quick intake of breath. "Why is Ms. O'Donnell here?"

"When I passed her cell, I noticed she was quite agitated," the young guard said, traces of color blossoming on his cheeks. "I—uh—used the intercom to inquire and she—uh—asked if she could see what was going on."

"You do not release a subject from a cell. Ever. Return her immediately."

Leah pushed past Matasumi, edging through the group until she was right at the bedside. When she saw Ruth, she gasped and wheeled to face Savannah, Buffy and Dawn.

"Oh," she said, hands flying to her mouth, eyes fixed on Savannah. "I am so sorry. How—What happened?"

"As I've been asking for the past ten minutes," Matasumi said.

The guard he'd tapped stepped away from the bed. "I was walking past on my rounds and I saw the old—Miss Winterbourne on her bed. The kid was leaning over her. I thought something was wrong, like maybe she'd had a heart attack, so my partner and I opened the door. We found the clock beside them on the floor. Blood splattered on it. Miss Winterbourne's skull bashed in."

Savannah tensed in Buffy's arms, heart pounding.

Dawn looked at Savannah and wondered if Ruth had been right. Was it possible that Savannah was already a Slayer? Only a werewolf or the Slayer would have had the strength to bash in Ruth's skull.

"Oh, you poor thing," Leah said, hurrying toward Buffy, Dawn and Savannah. "What a horrible accident."

"It—it wasn't me," Savannah said.

"Whatever happened, it's not your fault, hon," Buffy said.

Leah reached for Savannah. The girl hesitated, still clinging to Buffy. After a moment, she reached for Leah's hand and held it tight, her free arm still around Buffy. A flash of disappointment crossed Leah's face then she squeezed Savannah's hand and stroked the back of her head.

After a moment, Leah turned to the group surrounding the bed. She cleared her throat and said loudly, "Can I take Savannah to my cell? She shouldn't be here."

Carmichael glanced up from her work, sweat streaming down her broad face. "What's she doing here?" she said, waving at Leah. "Put her back in her cell."

The guards jumped to obey, as they hadn't for Matasumi. Two hustled Leah out. Savannah watched her go with such sadness that Dawn wanted to implore Carmichael to let Leah stay, but she was afraid if she did, she and Buffy would be kicked out too. Savannah needed someone. And Dawn thought that the best person would be her mother, her real mother. When Leah was gone, Savannah deflated and leaned against Buffy. She was quiet for several minutes, and then she glanced around at the others. Everyone was busy with Ruth.

"I think—" Dawn whispered. She watched as Buffy laid a hand on Savannah's shoulder and the girl melted against Buffy. Buffy patted her back and whispered comforting words to Savannah.

Dawn looked at Buffy and nodded to herself. Now may not be the best time to broach it to Buffy but now was the time the secret had to be told. She leaned in and whispered to her sister, "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant before I was bitten?" Buffy looked at Dawn shocked. "Ruth told me earlier tonight. She had a visit from Whistler. He was explaining to her why Savannah had to come with us. She's your daughter."

Buffy's eyes widened and she looked down at the girl. She had been right about her suspicions that Savannah was hers. Then a smile played on her lips as she held the girl closer still.

"There is more Ruth told me," Dawn whispered. "But I think it should wait till we and her are out of here."

After a minute, Savannah looked up at Buffy. "I think," she whispered, "I think I might have done it."

"You couldn't—" Buffy began.

"I wasn't sleeping. I was thinking about things—things Ruth told me. My lessons. Then I saw it. The clock. It flew—like the plate with the guard. I think I did it. I'm not sure how, but I think I did."

"If you did, it wasn't your fault," Buffy said. "I know that."

Savannah nodded, brushed back streaks of tears, and leaned her head against Buffy's chest.

Buffy looked at Dawn and mouthed to her, "Potential?"

Dawn nodded as Buffy's eyes went wide. "Hereditary," Dawn mouthed back. "The first."

Buffy's eyes went even wider. A Hereditary Slayer. Was that even possible? She looked down at Savannah, at her daughter. She stood holding Savannah for at least five minutes trying to comfort her daughter.

Then Carmichael stepped away from the bed. Everyone stopped what they were doing. The only sound in the room was the tripping of Savannah's heart. "Time of death—" she began before realizing she didn't have a watch. She dropped her hand, closed her eyes, exhaled, and walked from the cell.