"Daughter of Rosenberg..."
Summary: One year after the events of "Groom of Rosenberg" Buffy the Rosenberg Monster and her honey have returned to ask a special favor of their creators Rosenberg and Praetorius...While Tara faces the more or less Big Bad...
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, www.
...
Part XXIII...
Sunnydale General waiting room…
Where a cautious Dawn remained confronted by her inquisitors Giles, Xander, and the especially inquisitorial Anya…
"I still don't know what you mean, Giles…" she tried. Putting on aggrieved tone… "I don't know if Buffy's alive anymore than any of you, Jon neither."
"Then it should be no concern that Faith is keeping watch on him…" Giles replied calmly.
"Yeah…" Anya, suspiciously.
"Dawn…" Xander sighed. "If you know anything, now's the time to speak up. Before anything happens…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" she frowned.
"We don't trust you and we think you and Jonathan know exactly where Buffy and Spike are…" Anya noted.
"An…" Xander, hastily.
"Just bein' clear about it…"
…
"You're sure you're ok?" Willow, anxiously eyed Tara in her hospital bed…
"Just annoyed at being kept here…I'm fine." Tara frowned. Staring at her a moment… "As a matter of fact…" she regarded Willow carefully. "I think you're the one who belongs in this bed…Are you ok?"
"Just a little pooped…" Willow sighed. "It's been a long one…"
"Was Oz ok?"
"Oz?" stare. "Oh, yeah, sure…Just fine. I left him just fine at Andrew's." Willow nodded. A tad blankly…
"Did you get a chance to speak to Andrew? Can he leave there soon?"
"I didn't see Andrew…" slight trail off…
"Willow…?"
"I didn't see him…I guess he's busy with his lab stuff." Willow, a bit more brightly. "We'll find out tomorrow, if you're well enough."
"I can't see why I can't come home tonight…" Tara frowned.
"I'll stay with you…It'll be fun." Willow beamed. "They just wanna be sure they know why you fainted. And I did get a lot of medical guys involved…" sheepish look.
"I appreciate it, honey…" Tara patted her hand.
"I just wanna know what's up and if it has anything to do with the Master…" Willow noted.
"The Who?" Tara eyed her, startled. "You're not sayin' that guy you guys…"
"What?" blinking stare. "No, I mean…What's his name? Dracula…You know, the 'Master of vamps' and all that…" shrug. "You have been mentioning him, you know…"
"I guess…" Tara sighed, "At least you guys keep telling me I do. What about Spike and Buffy? Have we got anything new there?"
"Not yet…" Willow, hesitant. "But we might shortly…" careful look at Tara…
…..
Ok…Jonathan had completed a careful scan round as he stood in the woods of the Rosenberg Estate…Having made his rounds of the area…
No one or thing that I can make out…He pulled out a cell phone, dialing carefully.
"Hello? Will?" he addressed the phone, still nervously looking about… "It's me, Jon…Listen, we think the guys are convinced about you and…Whoa!" he reeled back at a sudden flash of light in his face…
"Jonathan…" Faith had emerged just in front of him, flashlight in hand…Grabbing for the phone… "I'll need to see that, please…"
She has been working at her Slayer tracking skills he noted. Barely managing to toss the phone out of sight before she could take it…
"Faith? What are you doing here?"
"What Buffy would do, if the roles were reversed…Again…" she sighed. "Jon, where are they? I don't want to have to hurt them…"
"Hmmn? Hurt who?"
"Jonathan?" William's concerned voice was audible…
Faith giving him a sour look…Jonathan rolled eyes.
"That Johnny? Hey, Jon…" Buffy's happy voice…
….
Subannex lab of the Praetorious Corporation, below the well-appointed townhouse of Dr. Andrew Praetorius. His little lab away from lab, as he liked to put it…
Where he and his visiting guest, Dr. "Constantine Alucard" were now almost ready to put the finishing touches on his second venture into the blacker sciences…
"The heart is beating normally, thank goodness…" Andrew noted, monitoring the heart tank's instruments. The regular sound of the heart's beat filling the lab…
Ah, that familiar sound of success…
Yes…Thank goodness no need for another unfortunate substitution from another unfortunate donor…Though of course such donation would be totally "above board" as it were…This time…
"And the kidneys…?" Dracula looked over the body draped in a sheet…
"Our supplier from Japan provided working material…" Andrew nodded.
Nice to know the Japanese Mafia can be trusted to negotiate in good faith. And fortunate for them, given whom they were dealing with in this case…
"Then…All's ready? At last?" Dracula, anxiously.
"The brain is in position…The organs are in as good a condition as they will ever be…Yes, my dear Count. We are at last, ready to begin our supreme collaboration…" Andrew beamed.
"I can only offer you my most humble thanks, Andrew…" Dracula nodded. "Whatever the outcome, you have my undying gratitude for your efforts and the risks you have borne here."
"Quite all right, my friend…" Andrew put up a hand. "I must admit, it is an enthralling thing to be a part of such a project again. Though of course, this must be the last venture of mine along such lines…"
Mmmn…Perhaps…He thought…As Dracula nodded solemnly…
Andrew pulled up a screen on his computer on a bench near the strapped-down body on guerney…
"The weather report suggests tomorrow night should be a suitable moment. A chain of heavy thunderstorms predicted over the area. Most auspicious for us…"
"Yes…" Dracula pondered.
"Count?"
"I can't help wondering, Andrew…" sigh. Eyeing of the body before them… "Is this truly the right thing? I know that sounds rather foolish at such a late moment but…"
"I cannot guarantee success, Count, but…"
Dracula put up a hand…
"It's our success that concerns me, Doctor…" worried frown. "If we do succeed…Will Elisabete have cause to thank me? Or condemn me? Am I saving her? Or, perchance, dragging her from her heavenly repose?"
"You were convinced her soul was tormented…" Andrew noted. "Lost and in horror at Drusilla's acts."
"Formerly, yes…" Dracula paused. "And certain I was…But recently…Since my escape from Vladimir's confinement…I've not had contact with her soul, even in the faint traces I did before. I can't help wondering, now that we stand on the brink, as we do…"
"If you have any misgivings, Count…"
"No…No, I feel we must try…" pacing. "If there is even the slightest chance we may save Elisabete from the nightmare. After all, should she find her new existence unbearable…" he paused. Staring at the draped body…
A faint, wry smile at Andrew… "And at least, thanks to your skill, my friend, she is sure to find herself as beautiful as she was in her former life…"
"If we learn she wishes to return to her current state…" Andrew, carefully. "You of course can do so, Count…With my blessing…And any assist needed."
"And I will follow her…" Dracula nodded. "If you will assist me…?"
"It would be an honor, sir. But one I will hope not necessary to perform for many years to come, if ever…" Andrew patted Dracula's shoulder…Hesitating…
"It will be necessary to summon Ms. Rosenberg soon. Her participation will be essential from the beginning of the regenerative process. Yet we must take care not to alarm her friends…The Slayer…"
"Yes, we can't take the risk they may interfere. Nor would I allow them to come to harm in doing so…" Dracula nodded. "But I believe Harmony or I, as her Master, can summon Ms. Rosenberg at any time and alert her not to arouse suspicion. When will we need her, Doctor?"
"I should say late tomorrow afternoon, at the latest…Hmmn…" Andrew pondered. "It shouldn't be difficult, she'd be sure to be planning to come by and check on young Osborne. Merely a matter of making sure her friends do not accompany her. Though the process may take some time…They might become alarmed at her failure to return. And come here…"
"We must avoid that…Could you claim that she's needed to care for Mr. Osborne overnight?"
"I suspect that would merely cause them to come more readily, wishing to assist…" Andrew shook his head. "Perhaps…" he pondered.
"Doctor?"
"After we've succeeded we might want something to persuade Willow to 'forget' about this matter. I mean in a voluntary way, not your usual one, Count…" he hastily noted… "You remember I had suggested there was a matter of inconvenient materials from one of her previous experiments lying about? That we might employ to gain her cooperation…?" he gave a shrewd look.
"I see…" Dracula nodded. "And we have heard the reports from your 'assistants' suggesting Ms. Summers may yet be alive and active in Sunnydale…"
"Yes…" Andrew, a tad discomfited…
The said Ms. Summers and he having not parted at their last engagement on the best of terms…
"If her friends were to believe it was Ms. Summers who had taken Willow. And went in pursuit of her while we completed our project…" Andrew suggested. "And if we offered Willow assistance in resolving that matter after bringing her out of thrall once we've succeeded…"
"A quid pro quo…Yes…" Dracula nodded. "Though perhaps a bit unfair toward Ms. Summers, if she is truly still alive. Or some reasonable facsimile thereof…"
"Perhaps we may even be of assistance to her…" Andrew noted. "If we could bring her together with Willow and resolve their antagonism in a neutral situation. I'm sure Willow could then persuade her friends to accept such a resolution…"
"Assuming the lady is still capable of being reasoned with…" Dracula eyed him. "Is it your opinion, medically, that she is rational?"
"She was, quite so, last year, despite some minor impediments once her recovery from resurrection had begun in earnest. I fear Willow was too impatient with the poor creature immediately after her rebirth…" pause… "However, I've had no contact with her since the tragic events last year so unfortunately there's no way to be sure we can still reason with her. Or William, if he lives as well…"
"They've caused no harm since, that you know of?"
"No, none…Which, assuming they do live…Or whatever, is a hopeful sign…"
"Well…" Dracula sighed. "While I hate to disturb them if they are simply attempting to maintain a peaceful existence, it does sound as though your suggestion is one likely to allow us to proceed without interference from the Slayer or Mr. Giles, whose abilities in the occult, I've no doubt, are formidable. And, with all due modesty…I believe I could prevent Ms. Summers and William the Bloody from doing anything harmful."
("I and my Slayer vs the Dracula, Dru…?" Spike beamed. "My money's on Dracula, even with his wusslike fascination with redemption…" Angelus sneered.)
"Daughter of Rosenberg..."
Summary: One year after the events of "Groom of Rosenberg" Buffy the Rosenberg Monster and her honey have returned to ask a special favor of their creators Rosenberg and Praetorius...While Tara faces the more or less Big Bad...
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, www.
...
Part XXIV...
Hmmn…Harmony frowned, sulking a bit as she walked along the street in one of Sunnydale's seedier and less human-friendly neighborhoods…
The things I do for the Master. Not that I'm complaining…To his awesome face, that is. But geesh…I thought was a laboratory assistant. An essential part of the team…
And here I am, demoted to trying to find a lead on whatever it is Willow created out of Buffy last year…
Not that the Master wasn't polite about it, in asking me to go. But…I'm missing out on all the science stuff…How'm I ever gonna be a top notch science geek of the mad persuasion if I don't get to sit in on the work? And I'm gonna need a job after I get that darned soul back. Tomorrow I guess, if Dr. P is right…
Lovely…I'll be just another souled vamp with no college degree, no skills, no job waiting. Probably insane and all from guilt at killing Grandma and all those other folks…
Still, I will have a story to sell…er, tell… "My Unlife Among the Undead" by Harmony Rawlings Kendall…
Rawlings just sounding so good there…
The heroic story of a…Heroine…Who, abandoned by her classmates and friends…One of whom was the Slayer, no less…Still managed to…
Well, ok…I only managed to kill people. But…But…She put up a stern finger…I didn't try to destroy the world or all humanity. Huh? Yeah…Like some "heroes" we know?...Yeah…
And now I'm part of a noble scientific project to redeem the great Dracula and save his poor girl…Wife…
God…Drusilla, the Countess Dracula? Unbelievable…
Some people have all the luck with reincarnation…I tell ya…
Anyway, with the right agent…I wonder if that Angel could connect me with a good one…
("Angel is me, right?" Angelus eyed Dru.
"Of course you are, you moron…" Darla glared…
Embarrassing enough to know the idiot's going to stumble into a soul in a few years…Even before Spike, whom God knows, I figured as a sure soul-boy candidate…
"Yes, Father…" Dru nodded, patiently.
"And this 'agent' the vampiress was referring to, hoping I would lead her to? Persons of power, I take it?"
"Very much so, Father…" Dru nodded.
"Meaning?" Darla eyed him.
"Just glad to know I hold a position of some…Position…in my future existence…" Angelus beamed.
Hmmn…
"You know you still haven't told me where I am in this futureworld, Dru?" Darla frowned.
Uh… "Well, grandmother…" Dru, diplomatically.)
"Hey, babe…" a voice cooed, from a dark corner. Seductive, deep…
Hmmn…Yep…One of ours…And from the sound…Eager for some…
"Oh, God…Johnny Fikcus?" she eyed the chubby, rather zit-marked, stubby fellow emerging…
What is the Unworld coming to, when someone makes a vamp out of a creepy little geek like this…?
"Harmony Kendall?" he blinked at her. Wow…
I used to spend nights…And now, often enough, days…Dreaming about you. He thought, staring…
Uh…Right, first things, first…He tried to take a seductive, hypnotic pose. "I am now…Fikcus the Magnificent…Look into my eyes…" deep voice.
"Knock it off, creep…I'm a vampire, can't you tell?" she frowned.
He eyed her…Hmmn…
"You have a weird aura…You sure you're not…?"
"I'm in thrall, ok?" she sighed. "By the greatest of them all…" slightly proud tone…
"Oh?...What phony Lestat is town tonight?"
"Screw Lestat…I'm talking Dracula. The Vlad himself."
"Buffy Summers killed Dracula years ago." Fikcus shrugged. "Everyone knows that…"
"She killed the grandnephew, not the Vlad. He's still around and now out and about and in Sunnydale."
"Yeah, right…" sneer…
She grabbed Fikcus the Magnificent and jerked him around to face her. "Never talk with disrespect about my Master…Asshole…You got me?!"
"Yeah…Sure…" he gasped. As Harmony jerked his arm back… "Look, you're hurting my arm and you're gonna dust me if you keep it up! Leggo!"
"That bothers me…Not…" she noted, sweetly.
"But…I love you…" he whimpered. "Much as I still can. And I did, back in school…"
"Naturally…" she shrugged. "And I'll allow you to desecrate my memory for a little longer if you answer my questions…" she threw him back, he nervously brushing himself as she eyed him.
"Questions? About what?"
"The same Buffy Summers we were discussin'…Or rather, her new self…?"
…
The McNab House of Horrors…
Where Giles, Xander, Anya, Dawn, Faith, and a reluctant Jonathan had convened with the even more reluctant acquiescence of security guard/assistant curator Lou to discuss the new information Faith's surveillance had uncovered. Giles feeling this to be the best place to summon Buffy and William via the number so unwillingly provided via Jonathan's recovered cell phone…
"Guys, you can't do this…" Dawn protested, urgently. "Buffy isn't doing anyone any harm…"
"You lied to us, Dawn…" Giles shook his head. "You've left us no alternative…"
"We didn't want to lie, Mr. Giles…" Jonathan began…
"Why shouldn't we have lied?!" Dawn, indignant. "Right from the start of this nightmare, you guys have shown my mother and father no consideration at all. You've treated them like animals. Like they were monsters…You didn't even consider helping them…"
"Dawn…" Xander began…
Hmmn?...He blinked.
Mother…?
Father…?
"Can monsters put people in thrall or do you think Spike bit her?" Anya hissed to Giles…
….
There's a way out of any cage…Oz thought. Struggling against the chains and straps holding him in the bed of his host, Andrew Praetorius…
Of course it helps if the cage isn't magically enhanced like these chains…
There's gotta be a way out of here. I've gotta get out and warn the guys about Dracula. Before he and that nut Praetorius drag Willow into whatever nutburger madness they have planned…
This would have to be a night without a moon rising until after 11…He sighed, looking toward the bedroom's bay window…
Wait…My cell…Still in my right jeans pocket. He squirmed in the bed…
Thank God they didn't have Harmony undress me. But…Even if I can get it…How…? He swung his feet up, lifting his lower half off the bed for an instant…To…Dial…
And whom…?
Well, Giles or Xander…Not Willow, naturally…
But I only have Willow's number. Hmmn…
He felt the phone now riding up in his pocket…Getting there…Getting there…
Plop…Yeah…
Right on the floor…Great…
Just great…
Wait a moment…The headboard…Yeah…It's loose…He jerked at the straps…
Rocking…Rocking…
Whoa…The bedframe slammed down to the floor at the head of the bed, the headboard falling on him…
Great…Fractured skull to add to my injuries…And doing nothing to mend my broken heart…
Oh, well…At least my head's now not more than six inches from my damned phone…If I could just…
Just…
Oh, God damnit! He fumed as the phone moved away, pressed by his cheek's touch…
Careful…Ah…Ah…Hah! He had his cheek on top of the phone now…
Great…Now what…
Slide it…Slide it…Almost there by my arm…Holding it…C'mon, lets open her up, just push with the tongue…No…Ok, just try and bite the top, got it…Got it…Lift it…Hold the rest with the arm…
Yeah…Open!
Great…Now what? Dial with my tongue?
Tap the O…Come on, try. Tap…Yuck…No good and tastes awful…
The chin…If I can just poke it…
"Operator?...Can I help you?"
"Yeah!...Yeah!...Uh, yeah…Sorry…Had a little trouble with dialing, I'm disabled and had an accident. Well, no…Not quite a 911 thing, thanks. Could you possibly connect me with a Mr. Rupert Giles at the Magic Box in Sunnydale? No, please! I'm not being funny…Please! He's my…Uncle. He'll come over and help me. Please, ma'am…I'm not playing a prank. Thanks…Thank you…"
He waited, listening…
Ringing…No answer…Wait…There…
Answering machine…
"Hey, Giles! This is…"
"What the hell do you mean the voice mailbox is full?!...#$# !..."
Ok…Ok…Just wait a mo…See if…
"Hey, operator…Thank God you're still there…My uncle's not at his store. Can you possibly try just one more number for me? This is the last I promise…Really…Ok…Uh…"
Hmmn…What's left…?
Sunnydale General? Right, get Willow and she happily hangs up and then goes to call Dracula…
Hmmn…One other place I could try…
"The McNab House of Horrors Museum please. My uncle works there part time as well. And I have friends there. Ma'am, please…I'm not being funny. If I can't reach him there, we'll have to do 911 but I don't want to bother them for this. Thanks...Really, thanks so much…"
"Hey…This is Daniel Osborne. You know the kid in the crate who got shot? Right…Hi, Lou…Yeah, I do remember you. Nice to hear you, too. Ummn…By any chance are my friends…? Just left? You don't know where but to go and find the Monster? Ok…Look, do you think you could help me out…? And I think I can help you with that missing Dracula statue…"
"Daughter of Rosenberg..."
Summary: One year after the events of "Groom of Rosenberg" Buffy the Rosenberg Monster and her honey have returned to ask a special favor of their creators Rosenberg and Praetorius...While Tara faces the more or less Big Bad...
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, www.
...
Part XXV...
Agitated fumbling at oars…
Damn…What the hell did Willow do to my motor skills? A frustrated Buffy sighed…
Uh-oh…She looked up out of the boat in Lake Sunnydale to stare at the approaching, and aggrieved William…
"Buffy…" he glared. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Jonathan called again…From museum, you said…" she said, innocently. Remaining firmly seated. A bit incongruous, given her towering frame in the small boat…
"We don't know it was Jon. Whoever called the second time didn't speak…"
"Maybe he couldn't…Oh…We better get over…" she looked anxiously toward the shore…
"Buffy…I think it's a trap. Why would Jon call on the museum's phone and not his own…? Somehow someone else got our number from him."
"But if he in trouble? William?! Dawnie, too!" she was rocking the boat now in her anxiety…
"Buffy…Buffy, stop! Sweetheart, you're going to turn the boat over and I don't know if either of us can swim! Buffy, stop!" he held the boat steady. "Now come out…I'll try and call him again…"
"We gotta go…Trouble…Museum key…" she shook her head. "Will, please!"
"Buffy…I think Giles or someone else got the number from Jonathan and is trying to get us to come to the museum. Lets not be foolish…"
"Maybe…Maybe not Giles. Maybe whatever going on in museum…That Dracula thing…Rats…"
"You killed Dracula…"
"Well…Somebody make statue go." she shook her head. "Evil's involved, Will…"
Hey…Not too bad…She smiled. I am getting better…
"Please…" she urged. "Johnny maybe in danger…Someone got him…"
"Probably our dearest friends…Bent on 'helping' you…" he noted.
"Well…We go…Be careful…Survey…Come home if ok. No problemo…" she eyed him.
"Christ…" he sighed.
"William…" she pleaded. "Dawn loves him…"
"Uhhhnnnn…."
"William…" sigh. "Our daughter may need us…"
He perked his head up at her sudden Cicely voice…
"Dawn is our daughter, Will. The one we lost in 1880. And we can't lose her again…"
….
"Xander?" Giles called.
"Right here, Giles…" Xander hissed back from the bushes in which he and Anya now hid, in the backyard of the McNab House of Horrors Museum…
"Faith?" he spoke into his cell phone…
"Five by five, Giles." she told her phone in reply. Standing behind a tree near the fence at the opposite end of the yard…
"All right…Keep a close eye for anyone coming in…Xander? Did you hear that?"
"Got ya, Giles…"
"How long do we wait out here?" Anya hissed.
"Till we see Buffy and William or Giles decides to call it a night or you need to go. Are you ok?" Xander eyed her.
"Fine…But what do we do if they show, looking for Jonathan and Dawn?"
"I've no idea…" he sighed. "But I don't want to leave it to Giles…"
"Jonathan…" Giles turned to him. "If you want me to 'go easy' with Buffy, you'd better not move out of my sight. Which is extremely limited in this yard at night…"
"Right…" Jonathan sighed.
"That goes for you too, Dawn…" Giles eyed her.
"I won't let you hurt her. And neither will Jon…Jon?" Dawn gave a sidelong glance.
"No…I mean, yes…I mean I won't let anyone hurt Buffy either…" Jonathan sighed.
"If you cooperate, no one will be hurt." Giles noted.
"She won't come…" Dawn insisted. "She and Will are too smart to be fooled by a call from the museum phone."
"That would be unfortunate…" Giles said, quietly. "We'd then have to go look for them. Anyway we could…"
"My mother is not an animal to be tracked down, Giles!" she fumed.
"If she comes, now…I would agree with you, Dawn." he noted. She staring at him…
"It would mean she was concerned about Jonathan…And you. And that would be some proof she's still human…"
"She is human…More than any of you!" Dawn, grimly.
"Whatever you think, Dawn…I want to believe that…" Giles said, simply.
…
"I don't get this…" Bud, driving, fumed at Lou beside him in his car. "This Osborne kid who got shot and dumped in a crate at the museum and is mixed up in the theft of cousin Art's exhibits calls you? And wants you to come help him at his doc's place?"
"That's what he said…And we don't know that he's mixed up in whatever happened to the Dracula statue." Lou sighed, eyeing the passing street…
Turn here, he noted.
"And the werewolf…Don't forget that…" Bud noted, turning into Andrew's street…
"Oh, I think that one is pretty much gone for good…" Lou looked out the window…
"Well, that's not gonna sit well with Artie…" Bud frowned. "Or with me…"
"He's got insurance…" Lou pointed out. "He's not losing anything by it. Probably the publicity's worth more than the exhibits, both of them put together."
"There's a principle at stake here. We can't let hoodlums break in and run off with valuable artifacts…Where would we be?" Bud fumed. "Is this it?"
"That's the number…" Lou nodded. "And we'd be…In Sunnydale…"
"Eh…" Bud snorted, pulling to the curb and shutting off the motor… "And what was all that back at the museum with those guys again? Why are they hanging out around the place?"
"They're working with the cops. You heard the police chief…And the Mayor, the other night. And the cops are in the museum…" Lou pointed out. "You didn't have to come with me if you thought it wasn't a good idea to leave the museum…"
"Eh…I wanted to know what was up here." Bud frowned. "Look, you're not calling me yellow are you? Cause if I were yellow I'd've stayed with the cops."
"Nah…" Lou shook his head. "But if you wanna go back and just drop me here…"
"Eh…I'm here…Lets see what's up. Maybe we'll get a lead. " The two emerged from Bud's car…
"Well, we better hurry…It's gettin' late."
"So?...Don't tell me the kid's got hurt again?"
"No…I don't think so…" Lou eyed the townhouse main entrance…An ornate gate…
"But the moon will be up soon…"
"What?" Bud stared at Lou. "What the hell does the moon have to do with anything?"
"Nothing…It's just…" he paused.
"Just what? What do you mean?"
"It's just we might find our werewolf exhibit in the moonlight and that's not the way I'd like to find him…" nervous look to the entrance.
"What? Lou…Sometimes I think you've lost all your marbles. I'm glad my side of the family left this weird town and stayed sane…" Bud shook his head.
"Well come on…Lets go in…" he sighed.
"And…Quick…" Lou nodded.
They reached the entrance and pressed the doorbell…
Gibbons appearing at the door a moment later…
"Gentlemen?" he eyed the two in their guards' uniforms…
"We're here to see Mr. Osborne…" Lou explained.
"I'm sorry…Mr. Osborne is under Dr. Praetorius' care. The doctor left strict instructions that he is not to be disturbed until further orders…"
"I just spoke to him on the phone and he…" Lou began…
Crashing sound from behind the butler…All three men staring down the hall. Lou taking advantage of the disturbance to slip past Gibbons…
"Sir!..." Gibbons hurried after him. "I must ask you to…"
"Get me…Outta…Here…" Oz gasped at Lou as Lou stared at him in the doorway of Andrew's bedroom. Oz on floor, still chained to the fallen headboard and back bedstead…
"What the hell?!" Bud stared.
"You gentlemen must leave or I'll call the police!" Gibbons insisted. "Mr. Osborne needs to be kept restrained due to his injuries…"
"I'm calling the police…" Lou noted. Pulling cell phone…
"Gentlemen…Leave now or face the consequences…" Gibbons, curtly. Backing off to the hallway's nearest phone where he began dialing…
"Come on, Bud! Grab him! We gotta get outta here!" Lou insisted…Hurrying over to Oz and pulling at the headboard. Managing to pull its supports through the chains…
"Come on, come on…! Before that butler gets the police in here!" he urged the stricken, dazed…What the…? Bud. Who reluctantly grabbed at the rear bedstead and pulled it out…
"Careful…With the…Chains…" Oz urged. "They're magics reinforced…"
"He means they're really strong and chafe…" Lou explained to the ever more dazed Bud…
"Lets go…We've gotta get him outta here!..." he insisted…Picking up Oz by his shoulders, Bud, grumbling but picking up legs…
"Hurry…You don't have much time…" Oz urge.
"Wait…This is crazy…We should wait for the cops…" Bud paused.
"You can't leave me here now, not like this with the moon coming up!" Oz, agitated. Bud fumed…But obliged, carrying…
Picking up speed as the faint sound of a police siren was heard in the distance…
….
"You're sure about this…" Will asked for the fifth time…
"Sure as my name is Buffy Anne Cicely Anne Summers Walthrop." Buffy noted calmly as their boat moved across the lake toward the shore…
"Dawn…Our daughter?" he stared at Buffy's wan smile. Yeah, Dad…
"Our daughter…" she nodded. "I want tell…But…Was afraid…Kinda shock, ya know?"
"So you chose to break it to me gently, eh?" he eyed her…
"No time…" she shrugged. "I not want it like this…But hey? Faster, please, honey?..."
"I still think it's a trap…" he eyed her.
"Probably…" she nodded. "But we deal…Like always…"
"Giles' trap…" he noted. "Meaning a pretty good one."
"We…Deal…" she nodded. Shrewdly...
….
"Thanks…" Oz gasped. As Bud's car sped along…
"Now…We gotta get to Willow. Or find Rupert Giles…He may be at the Magics Box downtown. I don't know where Willow is, probably at Sunnydale General with Tara…"
"Find who? With who?!" Bud stared.
"Just head for the Museum…" Lou noted. "They're all there, except Ms. Rosenberg…"
"No…Willow…" Oz insisted. "Sunnydale General…"
"Hey, this ain't a taxi, kid." Bud…Rather glad to have a reason for fussing…
This town is startin' to get to me, I think. He thought…
"Fine, ok…Sunnydale General…" Lou agreed.
"Wait…" Oz groaned, looking out the car window. "Stop…You gotta get me out of here…"
"Kid…" Bud, grimly.
"Listen to me…You gotta get me somewhere…There!" Oz pointed to the motel…The Bates motel…They were passing… "Get me a room in there and lock me in! Quick!"
"Are you crazy?!" Bud cast a withering glance. A bit startled to see the kid nervously twitching and jumping. He pulled over… "Jesus, kid?! Are you ok…?!"
"Bud…Pull in…I'll pay for the room…" Lou insisted. "Hurry!"
"Jesus…You are both crazy. We're going to Sunnydale Gen…Hey!" he grabbed at Oz who had grabbed the keys…
"Listen! I might tear you limb from limb…!" Oz shouted.
"What?!"
"He means he'll kill ya…!" Lou translated.
Bud staring…
"But I won't…If you'll just lock me in a room…Quick!" Oz groaned.
"Just stay with him…I'll run and see the manager…" Lou got out…
"Hurry…" Oz groaned, looking up at the moon just beginning to rise…
"On second thought, you better get out and lock him in the car while I get the manager…" Lou urged Bud.
"DO IT!" Oz hollered…
"Fine, fine…" Bud muttered. Attempting to mask his panic and trying to maintain an air of bravado as he quickly left the car, locking…
"What this nut needs is a keeper…" Bud shook his head. As Lou hurried to the office…Banging on the door…
"And maybe you do too…" he sighed at Lou, now on the office porch urgently speaking to Jonesy, the manager who'd emerged, clearly a bit annoyed at first, then nodding at Lou's words…
And maybe me too…He did not say…Aloud…As Jonesy followed Lou up to the car…