Chapter 7: The Season Part 2

California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, December 11th, 2007

That's… almost all of the Scoobies," Morgan blurted out. "Shit, this is serious!"

"The Scoobies?" Sarah asked. She looked as if she didn't trust her ears.

"Our old high school classmates, mostly," Chuck explained. "Buffy Summers, the oldest living Slayer in the world."

"Stopped a dozen apocalypses!" Morgan chimed in.

"Willow Rosenberg. Genius and witch," Chuck said.

"One of the most powerful magic users on the planet," his friend added. Fortunately, no one questioned his use of gaming terms.

"Xander Harris," Chuck went on. Sarah looked at him, then at Morgan. "Well, he's Xander." Chuck shrugged. Explaining Xander was hard. Especially to a spy.

"Should that mean something?" Casey asked.

"He's one of the Council's most experienced Watchers, though that is partially owed to the regrettable casualties that the fight against the First Evil caused," Phil said. "He lacks formal training, but he survived for seven years while hunting demons of all sorts on a Hellmouth."

Which was far more impressive than it sounded, in Chuck's opinion.

"And he knows a ton about everything!" Caridad gushed. "Weapons, construction, tactics - he taught me how to build improvised mines!"

"And we all should be grateful for it," Phil said in a very dry voice. "Dr Summers is Miss Summers's sister, and an accomplished linguist and archaeologist. And Miss Lehane is the second-oldest Slayer."

"Don't call her 'Miss Lehane, or she'll kick your ass!" Caridad said. "Call her Faith."

Phil didn't say anything, but Chuck caught a hint of a frown on the older Watcher's face. "I bow to your experience on that topic, dear," he said.

"You haven't worked with them before?" Sarah asked.

"I've worked with Miss Rosenberg and Dr Summers," Phil replied, "but I was quickly assigned to Caridad when I rejoined the Watchers Council, and I didn't work with the others."

"But we went to school with Buffy, Willow and Xander," Morgan said. "It's like a high school reunion!"

"Just without people like Heather," Chuck was quick to add when he saw Sarah's expression.

"Let's hope so," Casey said. "I've had my fill of traitors already."

California, Los Angeles International Airport, December 12th, 2007

Sarah didn't like airports. Too many cameras, too many half-trained security guards whose reactions couldn't be predicted in a crisis. Too many people for most ops. And she wasn't carrying enough weapons for her peace of mind.

That they had a great cover - a reunion of Chuck and Grimes with their high school classmates - didn't do much to calm her down. Not so quick on the heels of the Ratners affair. And after listening to Chuck and Grimes's descriptions of the 'Scoobies'. Especially the female members of this eclectic group. Meeting the high school crush - crushes in this case - of your partner was always a little stressful, after all.

"Look, there they are!" Chuck exclaimed, starting to wave. Grimes followed his example. At least they weren't holding a sign.

Sarah looked at the group headed towards them. She could spot the two Slayers right away - they didn't move but stalked. Summers and Lehane. The two most dangerous Slayers in the world, as far as Sarah knew.

And yet, her first thought upon spotting Summers was: My God, she's short! Chuck and Grimes's stories had made her sound as if she was seven feet tall. Even Caridad, who wasn't a tall girl, would tower over Summers, if not for the blonde's five-inch heels.

And the woman looked far too young for a contemporary of Chuck. Barely older than Caridad, Sarah noted with some envy. And in addition to that, she wore the miniskirt-business-chic - Italian cut - very well.

"Chuck! Morgan!" Summers called out, waving.

"Yo," Lehane was much more sedate in her greeting. She wore leather pants and a tiny tank top, under a battered leather jacket.

"Chuck! Morgan!" Rosenberg - she fit the description and the expected age and she was wearing a long skirt and a colourful blouse - joined them. And hugged both. "Good to see you, despite the circumstances."

"You better have some food ready, or Buffy will start chewing on you. She almost made a scene when the flight attendants told her that 'free snacks' didn't mean she got to empty the plane's pantry. Unfortunately, she never learned to share as a child."

And that would be Dr Summers, both through a process of elimination and because that kind of snark was a family privilege. Especially with Slayers.

"Hey!"

The only male among them, which would be Harris by default, laughed. "She did grumble about fraud and entrapment for an hour, though."

Or perhaps it wasn't just family, Sarah amended.

"Hey!"

"Everyone, this is Sarah Walker, my girlfriend," Chuck announced.

They had been eyeing her before, but now every one of the newly arrived was openly studying her.

"So you're the spy," Summers said in a low voice. "Hi!" she added more loudly with a toothy smile.

Not the most friendly greeting, in Sarah's opinion.

Chuck cleared his throat. "Uh... how about we move to a more private place for all the private chat? Perhaps hit a drive-in on the way?" Everyone would be cranky and hungry from the long flight, after all.

"Oh, food! I'm starving!" Buffy said at once. "Let's go!"

"We need to get the cars first," Dawn said. "Unless you want to walk the whole way."

"Well, duh, I meant that." Buffy rolled her eyes. "And you knew it."

Definitely cranky, Chuck thought.

"You didn't look like you'd remembered. You looked like you'd pounce on the next slice of pizza you saw and savage it with your teeth."

"What? Are you still grumpy about that? I told you, I had no idea that was your lunch! It wasn't marked!"

"It was on my favourite plate!"

"No one has favourite plates! No one normal, at least. Besides, it was edible, so how could I have known it was yours? Usually, your pizza has all gross stuff on it!"

"Healthy food isn't gross!"

"On a pizza, it is!"

Chuck glanced at Sarah. His girlfriend looked… well, not shocked. But surprised. Like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Sorry, Dawnie, I have to side with Buffy on that topic: Pizza's not supposed to be healthy," Xander cut in. "But we really should get moving before the nice security guards come and tell us to leave. Giles doesn't like it if we have to use our diplomatic passports too often."

"That was an emergency! They wanted to confiscate my new shoes!" Buffy complained.

"The new shoes you bought used from a guy selling them in the original packaging for a tenth of their value," Dawn said.

"Well, yes. Flea markets are supposed to be cheap."

"They're also known for being outlets for fences."

"Fences have outlets now? Wouldn't that be illegal?"

"That was my point," Dawn said.

"Why didn't you say so? And what's that got to do with your attempt to blame me for not properly storing your lunch?"

"Are they serious?" Sarah asked as they followed the bickering sisters to the airport's exit.

"Uh…" Chuck hesitated. He looked around, but Morgan had 'gone ahead to get the car' and was no help.

"Of course we're serious!" Buffy yelled from ahead of them. "Pizza is serious business! Especially if you're hungry. Almost as serious as shoes!"

"Well… you heard her?" Chuck smiled at Sarah.

She didn't seem to think it was funny. Neither did he, actually.

California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, December 12th, 2007

"Ah… I missed this! You don't get this in rainy old England!" Buffy exclaimed as she finished another hot dog in Wienerlicious.

"You can take the Slayer out of California, but you can't take California out of the Slayer," Xander said.

"It's more like 'Valley' instead of 'California'," Dawn said as her sister ripped the first box open. "San Francisco's got decent food."

"Dawn! That's treason!" Buffy managed to say between bites of greasy sausage and cheap buns.

"No. That's me not worshipping junk food."

"In junk food we trust…" Xander said, checking the next batch of hot dogs Caridad was preparing.

"Says the man who packed a suitcase full of Twinkies when he went to Africa," Faith said.

"And got mistaken for a smuggler in Kenia," Dawn added, "losing all your luggage."

"Which is why we got the diplomatic passports in the first place," Xander replied.

"No, that wasn't why we got them," Willow said.

"But they certainly helped. Should have seen the faces of the cops when I travelled back to Boston, and they tried to arrest me." Faith grinned behind her own stack of boxes.

"They wanted to arrest you?" Sarah asked.

"Well, that was before Giles got me a pardon," the Slayer answered.

Chuck winced at the glare he got from Sarah. Shouldn't she be used to working with people with a less than perfect past? Besides, that wasn't his secret to tell.

They were just missing Phil and Casey. And the shift at the Buy More was over, so Casey couldn't be much longer. In fact, he should be here already.

Before he could think of a reason for their absence, Buffy cocked her head. "Oh, is that your sister whom I hear?"

Chuck looked and saw Ellie making a beeline towards the store - from the Buy More. And he suddenly realised that he had forgotten to inform Ellie about the Scoobies' visit.

He reached the door just in time to meet her. "Hi, Ellie!" he said, beaming at her.

She frowned in return - he must have overdone it. "Chuck. I went to buy a replacement DVD player, and I noticed neither you nor Morgan were around, so I thought to check…" She trailed off, looking past him into the store.

"Ah… some old friends are visiting," he belatedly admitted.

"Old friends?" She frowned. "That's Xander, there. And Willow. And Buffy."

"Hi, Ellie!"

"What are you doing here?" Ellie's frown deepened. "And Caridad's wearing the store's uniform… You're not bankrupting Sarah by handing out free food to them?"

"Uh… you know about the slime demon hunters, right?" Chuck forced himself to keep smiling. "That problem is a little bigger than we thought."

Ellie was smarter. Probably smarter than himself. She understood right away. "Is this another graduation problem?" she asked, paling.

"Uh… possibly. We don't know yet." In a lower voice, he added: "Sorry, it was all very sudden."

"I'll go tell Devon." She turned and walked towards the parking lot.

Chuck sighed. That could have gone better. He should have told her yesterday.

Casey's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Trouble in the family, Bartowski?"

"Hi, Casey. Come in," Chuck said, ignoring Casey's question and snort as the agent walked past him. Ellie's view of the Scoobies was family business, so to speak.

And there was Phil and Caridad! He saw Phil's Smart park next to two SUVs the Scoobies had rented - despite Willow's concern that that made them look like government members.

Lehane whistled when Casey entered, all but openly leering at him, Sarah saw. "Hi! I'm Faith," the Slayer said, pushing off the counter she was leaning against and walking towards the agent with a very provocative sway of her hips only enhanced by that supernatural grace.

Casey blinked. "Hi," he said, and Sarah noticed his eyes straying from the Slayer's face. And, in her opinion, not just to check for threats and weapons.

Lehane must have noticed it as well - she shifted her weight, all but striking a pose straight out of a pinup calendar. And she was dressed for it, too. "You're not seeing anyone right now, are you?"

Subtle as a sledgehammer.

"Ah…" Perhaps a little too blunt even for Casey - the man looked taken aback. As did Caridad, who was still busy with the hot dogs.

"Faith! Keep your hormones under control!" Dr Summers snapped.

"Don't be jealous," Lehane replied without taking her eyes off Casey. "I'm just liaising with the locals."

"Is that what they are calling it these days?" Harris was grinning.

Brown-Smythe arrival interrupted the scene, and Casey took a few steps back to lean against the wall.

"Miss Summers."

"It's Buffy, Phil!"

"Dr Summers. Miss Lehane."

"Faith. It's Faith, Phil."

"Mr Harris."

"Xander. Mr Harris is my dad, and we don't really want him here, do we?"

"Miss Rosenberg."

Brown-Smythe hadn't taken the advice about Lehane's name, Sarah noticed. And Lehane wasn't 'kicking his ass'. The whole greeting and griping felt a little… not rehearsed, but not new. People going through the motions.

"Hi, Phil!"

"How was your flight?" Phil gamely made conversation.

"We were starved, as usual. And the stupid security people had issues with our weapons, even though they were clearly marked as diplomatic. Should have taken a private jet, but Giles is always so miserly with money, even though we have enough now!" Summers had an impressive pout. And a very immature attitude, in Sarah's opinion.

"If he weren't, we would be broke from your shopping trips alone," Dr Summers said.

"That's not true!"

"Don't start that argument again!" Rosenberg spoke up from where she was texting.

Dr Summers huffed, but her sister stuck her tongue out, then asked: "How's Kennedy?"

"Still sore that she couldn't come," Rosenberg answered.

"A broken leg will do that to you," Harris commented. "Speaking from experience."

"Kennedy?" Sarah asked.

"Willow's girlfriend. She got hurt fighting a pack of Polgara demons when visiting Cleveland," Summers explained.

"Girl forgot that they're a little more dangerous on an active Hellmouth," Lehane said.

"She didn't forget," Rosenberg said. "They had reinforcements."

"As I said," Lehane said with a smirk.

Sarah made a mental note that even Slayers didn't heal instantly. They could be taken out of action for a while. Which wasn't a good thing given their current crisis, of course.

"We're out of hot dogs," Caridad said - taking up a spot near Casey, Sarah noted. And sending a glance at Lehane. Who smirked at the other Slayer and slipped her leather jacket of her shoulders and arched her back - as if her supernaturally powered body suddenly needed some kinks to be worked out.

In response, Caridad moved closer to Casey. "Hey, Casey. Did you get the special bolts for your crossbow?" she asked. Rather transparently.

Sarah wanted to sigh. They had a potential apocalypse to deal with. They couldn't afford such drama.

Chuck sighed. Not even ten minutes had passed, and two Slayers were about to clash. And right above the secret CIA base under the store. Which really couldn't afford to draw the attention a full-blown Slayer brawl would bring. Nor the destruction it would cause.

He cleared his throat. "So, uh, should we talk about the apocalypse?" Anything to distract Faith and Caridad.

"We haven't had dessert, yet!" Buffy piped up.

"You've had a dozen hot dogs," Dawn was quick to point out.

"Which means it's the perfect time to eat dessert!"

Chuck made a mental note to buy more ice cream on the way home tomorrow. He didn't think their current stock would survive a visit. He walked over to Sarah. "Better grab your favourite ice cream before the Slayers get it," he whispered.

"I heard that!" Buffy complained.

And even Chuck could hear Sarah grind her teeth. At least he thought so.

Ten minutes and all the ice cream in the store's fridge later, the Scoobies were finally ready to talk about the looming threat to the city. For a given definition of 'ready', of course.

"...and we found a prophecy about the Lord of Slimes, which is another name for the Slime Lord," Willow explained.

"It's not exactly a prophecy, more like a demonologist's treatise about the behaviour and capabilities of it," Dawn cut in. "What the monster will likely do of released, in short."

"A number of scholars took it to be a prophecy," Willow argued, "so that possibility should not be dismissed out of hand."

"They were wrong," Dawn replied. "And they would have known that, had they translated the original scroll correctly."

"We don't have the original scroll, only Plinius's transcription," Willow pointed out.

"Plinius was the foremost authority of the subject. His treaties on certain demons are still referenced in all modern books," Dawn retorted.

"That doesn't mean he was any more correct on that particular subject than the Greek school."

"Girls!" Xander cut in. "It doesn't really matter. Prophecy or documentary, we'll stop the monster either way."

Dawn glared at him, and Willow frowned - obviously, they disagreed about the lack of importance of proper academic classification. But Chuck saw the rest of the group nod in agreement. Even Sarah.

Willow huffed. "Anyway, we can expect a flood of slime. Whole villages were said to be buried under thick, gross slime in ancient times, suffocating the population and slowly dissolving them."

"Like a gelatinous cube!" Morgan exclaimed.

"Yes!" Willow beamed. "Although it's not clear if the demon can control and move the slime, or merely starts producing it at one point and lets gravity do the work. What we do know, though, is that it can change the slime's properties - acidic, poisonous, more or less viscous, colours and possibly even temperature."

That sounded horrible, in Chuck's opinion. "That means even chemical counter-agents won't work since the slime can adapt."

"Not on the slime - but the demon itself isn't made of slime, according to our sources, but more similar to slime demons."

"Which we can kill!" Faith announced, baring her teeth.

"But we need to catch the thing upon arrival," Buffy pointed out, "or it'll be covered in enough slime to fill a house."

"Which means it'll be almost invulnerable," Willow added. "So we need to keep them from finding whatever they need to summon the Slime Lord."

"Which, according to our information, seems to be Jeff, a half-slime demon," Phil said. "Who is currently hiding beneath the Buy More store."

"They haven't made another attempt, though," Caridad said.

"Could we use him as bait? Move him to a deserted patch of desert, and, once they arrive, we yank him out and blow the place up?" Xander asked.

Chuck grimaced. "He wasn't happy with that plan when we thought we were just dealing with poachers."

"We can be quite convincing," Xander said. His grin was rather grim, Chuck noticed. Quite different from his usual attitude.

"Well…" Chuck started to say, but Casey interrupted him, staring at his phone. Which was beeping.

"Someone's breaking into the Buy More!"

"Oh!" Caridad sounded positively ecstatic. "I get to use the potions!" She pushed Xander away, none too gentle, and started to collect the vials he had stashed under the counter.

"We don't know if they are slime constructs," Sarah pointed out.

"Slimerminators? S-1000?" Xander frowned. "No, that sounds lame."

"Well, I'll know soon enough," Caridad said, grabbing the suitcase with the rest of the vials. "I just have to get close enough to sense them."

"Potions?" Buffy looked confused.

"Some experimental concoctions I made," Phil explained. "We hope they will affect the constructs."

"Oh!" The Slayer perked up. "Gimme!"

"What? No! They're mine!"

"Come on! Share!

"It would be wise to spread them out. Putting all eggs into one basket is often a foolish strategy," Phil added.

"But… I trained for this!" Caridad pouted. Chuck caught her glance towards the storage room where Casey had disappeared down to The Castle.

Chuck suppressed a sigh. She wanted to impress the agent even though they had to stop an apocalypse. Slayers!

"Two men. They just opened the emergency exit at the north side," Sarah announced, one hand on her ear. Casey must have told her, Chuck realised.

"On it!" Caridad took off at once. Buffy and Faith exchanged a glance, then followed her.

"Who wants to bet they want to check for themselves if the slime golems are really as tough as the reports claimed?" Xander asked.

"No bet, buster," Willow replied. "They've been speculating on the flight. Just be glad they won't try to drag one to Cleveland to see if the active Hellmouth affects the constructs."

Phil looked alarmed at that while Dawn sighed. "Typical."

"Let's hope that they stop to check before they accidentally attack two normal burglars," Willow said.

"What if it's a trap?" Sarah pointed out. "If more are waiting in ambush, this could be very dangerous. Caridad had considerable trouble with just one of them."

"It's Buffy and Faith," Xander replied. "But noted. Let's join them, just in case." Raised his voice a little, he added: "But keep an eye open for other intruders, and inform us at once, alright, Agent Casey?" He grabbed the gym bag he had brought with them and opened it. "Who wants a shiny axe?"

Dawn grabbed a short sword even as she announced that she'd stay in the store. Willow declined, but Chuck grabbed one. As did Morgan. Chuck wasn't the best with axes, but then, that went for most melee weapons, and an axe would be most effective against a slime construct. He didn't comment on the guns he saw inside the bag, but Xander would need diplomatic immunity if a cop ever got ahold of it.

"I left the flamethrower in the car," Xander said, chuckling, as they left the Wienerlicious. "Didn't think you'd appreciate me burning down the store."

Chuck nodded, then caught Sarah's glance. Had she thought Xander would be kidding about this? He tried to convey that Xander was serious with a nod before they crossed the parking lot and reached the Buy More, but wasn't sure if he managed it.

A flamethrower. Despite the fact that they were moving towards a fight, Sarah had to snort. Casey would want one as well, she just knew it. And it might be useful against vampires and other demons. As long as you didn't care about collateral damage. And about carrying a tank of fuel into battle on your back. She couldn't imagine trying to fight with that weighing you down.

They heard the Slayers before they saw them.

"Oh… that must have hurt. No? You're tougher than you look."

"Hold still you damn shell!"

"You don't know when to quit, do you?"

"B! Don't kill steal!"

"I'm not! He walked into my swing."

"Yeah, right!"

Despite the noise of breaking furniture - not that Sarah cared about the Buy More stock - the Slayers sounded as if they had the situation under control.

For a certain definition of the word, Sarah amended her thoughts as they rounded the last corner. The Slayers definitely didn't mind collateral damage - they were fighting among the remains of two pallets of what looked like gaming consoles. She heard Chuck gasp next to her and briefly wondered if he was appalled at the destruction of the store's stock or the loss of gaming consoles specifically.

But Summers and Lehane were almost casually knocking around two stumbling figures, trading barbs and quips - with each other; the constructs didn't talk - while Caridad apparently was diligently testing the various vials Brown-Smythe had prepared.

With decent success, Sarah noticed - one of the constructs looked half-melted. But it was still moving, unimpeded despite the damage, crushing a wooden crate where Summers had been a fraction of a second before.

The Slayer had already slid around the thing. A kick sent it through the crate's remains, into the wall behind it, with enough force to crack concrete.

"Big Mike won't like that," Chuck mumbled.

"He doesn't like anything or anyone!" Caridad exclaimed. "Heads up!" She threw a vial that broke against the back of the construct fighting Lehane, and the blue liquid splashed over it without any visible effect.

"He would like getting his entire store covered in slime even less, I bet," Summers said, dodging a few flailing limbs.

"I don't know, B. Some people really like such a thing," Lehane replied. "Drusilla cheated on Spike with a slime demon, didn't she?"

"Ew!" Summers made a face and glared at the other Slayer, hands on her hips and seemingly ignoring the slime construct coming at her from behind. Sarah was about to yell at her, but Summers launched a mule kick without looking that sent the slime golem crashing into the next wall.

And Lehane did the same with her opponent, using a roundhouse kick. "Don't knock it until you tried it!"

"Ew!"

Sarah had thought Caridad was supernaturally gifted, but those two made the other Slayer look weak.

And where did that leave her?

California, Burbank, Buy More, December 12th, 2007

Chuck watched, axe in hand, as Buffy and Faith fought. Buffy danced around her enemy, reducing the thing to broken and dissolving parts while it flailed and tried to hit her without success. She also kept up the banter, despite the construct never answering or reacting in any way to it. Faith was more brutal, standing her ground more and blocking blows with guiding parries than weaving around them and lashing out with jabs and kicks that shattered limbs and other body parts.

The two were grinding down the slime golems like Caridad had done so with the first inside the Buy More, but they made it look easy. And they didn't get hit at all.

He was feeling more than a little superfluous. A feeling Caridad probably shared, as a glance towards the resident Slayer told him - she was standing there, frowning at her empty suitcase, and fiddling with a notebook.

Or, he thought as he saw her writing into the notebook, she's trying to work out and remember which concoction worked best on the things. Slayers weren't the best at paying attention to experiments, as Buffy had proven several times in Chemistry.

They weren't the best at avoiding collateral damage, either. He winced as he tallied the cost of an entire shipment of Playstation 3s. Some of the consoles might have survived the fight, but all of them would have to be checked for damages. Big Mike wouldn't like this. Especially without an obvious culprit to blame and bill for, and their insurance would probably demand a police report at least. Which meant more work as they'd have to clean up the location of all slime parts without making it look like they did. The last thing the store needed - well, the second to last thing, seeing as getting buried in slime was worse - would be a police investigation for attempted insurance fraud.

"Hah! Beat ya, B!" Faith announced as she held up the constructs 'core' - it was, as far as Chuck understood, the anchor for the spells holding the thing together and animating it, but any gamer would know that was called a 'core'.

"No fair! I was dragging things out so we could gather data!" Buffy complained as she pouted at the twitching remains of her own opponent.

"C's been done with her experiment for some time, B!"

"She doesn't look done!"

"That's 'cause she's writing the report, but the actual experiment's been done for some time."

"That doesn't count! She might have needed a second look!"

"Two intruders neutralised," Chuck heard Sarah speak into a small microphone.

"Oh! Do we get to visit the underground spy lair now?" Buffy asked as she grabbed a core of her own.

"It's a spy base," Caridad corrected her.

"It's hidden below a harmless-looking restaurant and used to spy on innocent people. That makes it a lair!" Buffy insisted.

"It's also top secret," Sarah added with a glare at Caridad.

"We've got top-secret security clearances," Xander replied. "Well, they were meant to cover up the DRI without making the bureaucrats tie themselves into knots about us knowing, but a CIA base isn't exactly in the same league as the DRI base was."

But the Intersect was, Chuck knew. And he was sure that Xander and the rest of the Scoobies knew about it as well.

California, Burbank, Wienerlicious, December 12th, 2007

"The blue vials seemed to work best," Caridad reported a few minutes later, back in the Wienerlicious. "They melted the most."

"Xavius's attempt at creating a universal solvent? Thank you, dear, that will greatly simplify my work," Phil replied with a smile.

As the Slayer beamed at the praise, Chuck caught Buffy and Faith exchanging wry glances at the scene. What was that about?

Before he could find an answer, or at least a hypothesis, Xander spoke up. "So… with a second attack on the store, it seems clear that the Buy More is the focus of the enemy's attention. Which means we'll need to have a base on-site so we can react quickly to further intrusions or attacks."

Chuck understood what he meant. As did Sarah, of course. "You want to use our base?" she said in a rather frosty tone.

"Well, if there's already a hidden spy base," Xander said, ignoring Buffy's 'lair!', "which has feeds from all those cameras you hid around the place…" He shrugged. "We could set up shop in the Buy More store, I guess, but we'd have to set up surveillance of our own."

"The only suitable location would be the catacombs," Morgan said. "Big Mike's been cracking down on our Home Entertainment Display Room Parties, and our extended break rooms. And we aren't allowed to hire temps without his approval any more since he fired Caridad."

"Which was totally not my fault!" Caridad blurted out. "That construct attacked me!"

"And we'd have to come and go through the store, which would present a possible danger," Dawn added.

It sounded quite convincing to Chuck. Logical, too. Which, of course, didn't mean the CIA would see it the same way. Chuck had the distinct feeling that the General wouldn't, in fact. But did she have to know about it?

California, Burbank, The Castle, December 12th, 2007

This was the nail in her career's coffin. Sarah was well aware of that. Of course, officially, she was following orders. She was duty-bound to help defend the USA, and this apocalypse certainly qualified as a massive threat to the country, even without knowing all the details of the danger.

She was also bound not to reveal secrets to people without the needed clearance, and the Council's secrets certainly fell into that category, even though they weren't exactly the USA's secrets.

But unofficially, she was breaking every rule and regulation of the CIA, especially the unwritten ones. You didn't let a - technically or not - foreign strike team into your base without orders from your superiors. Certainly not people you had been 'encouraged' to investigate. The director might have understood, but General Beckman? The woman was NSA to begin with, not CIA, and Sarah had no leverage with her.

"Guys! Guys! Remember: You can't use the briefing room, in case the general calls. She can't know you're here!"

She gently shook her head. Chuck meant well, but he was too naive. This would never work.

"Oh, look, they have machine guns!"

"Dibs on the M2!"

"They don't have an M2, B."

"Why not? It's a great weapon. And it actually hurts some of the tougher demons, unlike the pea shooters here!"

"Because they are spies and not the Armored Cavalry. Besides, they have LAWs."

"Oh, I bet they'd destroy a slime-thingie in one shot! It worked on the Judge, didn't it? Can you get us those, Xander?"

"They're under biometrical lock and key, Buffy."

And thank God for that, Sarah thought. The last thing she needed was the Scoobies using CIA-issued anti-tank weapons in a mall.

"Willow can crack that, right?"

"I'm not going to, Buffy! That would be rude."

"But you can do it, can't you?"

"Well, of course! The encryption isn't exactly complicated. But I wouldn't do that unless it were an emergency."

"What? It took me more than ten minutes to crack such a lock when I tried it. What are you using?" Chuck exclaimed.

Sarah clenched her teeth. She should never have let Chuck talk her into this. And she had to talk to him about hacking their own base.

"Heh, just tell yourself that having them set up their own base, unsupervised, would be worse."

She turned to glance at Casey, who looked far too relaxed in the face of this invasion. "If Beckman hears about this, we're done for."

He shrugged. "I've already been on borrowed time ever since I was shown that vampire. This is just more of the same." At her raised eyebrows, he added: "Sometimes, sacrifices have to be made. If you were a soldier, you might understand that."

She narrowed her eyes at him. She knew better than him about sacrifices - she had sacrificed her former life for the agency. "I understand enough," she told him, then pointedly glanced at Lehane and Caridad.

She didn't quite smile at his growl.

Perhaps inviting the Scoobies to The Castle hadn't been a good idea. Watching them, Chuck was having second thoughts. He hadn't expected them to be as professional as Sarah and Casey, not outside combat, at least, but to see them treat the armoury as if it were a display in a candy store was more than a little disconcerting.

Seeing Casey not froth at the mouth at the sight, though, was even worse. "Uh," Chuck spoke up, "shouldn't we plan how to proceed from here?"

"We've got a plan," Xander said, looking up from where he was apparently cleaning a bundle of rifles. "Caridad stays in the store during the day, standard guard rotations after work."

"One Slayer's ready at all times," Buffy added - without taking her eyes off the armoury locker. "Will casts a few spells to cover the area, and we watch TV while we wait for the bad guys to make a move so we can find and crush them. Simple!"

"Not even Buffy could mess this plan up," Dawn said.

"Hey!"

Chuck saw Dawn suddenly frown. "On second thought, forget what I said."

"Thank you."

Dawn ignored Buffy's exclamation. "I'm certain that she actually could mess this up. Easily - she's gifted that way."

"Hey!"

"You'd know her best, little D."

Yes, Chuck thought with a glance at Sarah, who hadn't stopped frowning for some time, this hadn't been one of his best ideas.

Probably still better than his fifteenth birthday LAN party, though.

California, Los Angeles, Echo Park, December 12th, 2007

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Chuck said, in the bed.

"You said that already," Sarah replied - though without looking at him, he noticed - as she slipped into her sleepwear in front of the dresser. Which was kind of distracting, especially thanks to the mirror mounted there.

"It bears repeating?" He forced himself to smile. "In my defence, they are much more professional when things turn really dangerous." He shrugged. "They just like to goof around to unwind." That's what Xander had told him last time.

"It's an act, then?" She slid into bed next to him.

Chuck certainly hoped so as he nodded. "They probably want to provoke you, too. You know, the more you react, the more they act up."

"Like children."

"Uh…" His smile slipped. "Very experienced, very dangerous children. Most of them have been fighting demons for ten years." He thought for a moment. "Just imagine Casey with a sense of humour, and instead of hating communists, it's demons."

"That's… actually terrifying," she said.

"They're on our side," he replied.

"So's Casey."

"Touché." He winced. Casey was terrifying and - nominally - on their side, too. "I guess I'm biased - I still see high schoolers when I think about them. Teenagers messing around, talking shit, doing stupid things…" And hunting demons and protecting an entire town run by an evil sorcerer bent on becoming a greater demon.

"Funny. I see teenagers too, when I think about them."

Chuck wasn't sure if he could disagree. Or what that said about the Scoobies.

On the other hand, Ellie had complained about him not growing up quite often. At least until he had started going out with Sarah.

Chuck didn't know what that said about him. Or he didn't want to know.