Imhotep's Key Chapter 17
By Joseph Black
Disclaimer: Red Storm and Tom Clancy own Rainbow and Characters. Joss Whedon owns Buffy and Characters. If you recognize any other character they belong to their respective owners. Original characters belong to me. I make no profit off the following except to have a little fun.
Spoilers: Buffy to present. Rainbow to Bear and the Dragon.
Authors note 1: I am adjusting the Buffy time line slightly, this fic starts just after "Never Leave Me", moving things back about a month.
Authors note 2: I can't seem to get Fanfic to except my special formatting. So anytime you see this ' anything inside is in a foreign language. And if you see this it's some ones thoughts.
Authors note 3: This is a continuation of the story started in 'Rainbow Over Sunnydale'. It would be helpful to read that fic first.
Response to Reviewers:
John: Put yourself in Clark's shoes though. This wasn't a good/bad decision it was a bad/worse. Do you sacrifice Willow, or do you take a chance on the ten plagues of Egypt being unleashed on Southern California? I liked the Protectors Umbrella too, I also think it was more appropriate.
Antonio: I love Marcus Rowland. His CSI/Slayer series is one of my all time favorites. I do wish he would do another chapter of his Saint Trinian's cross though. That was hilarious. Not quite sure if I agree with you completely with magic would stop being magic if it could be explained. There was a series of short stories and novellas back in the sixties called the 'Lord D'arcy' Series. I can't remember the author off the top of my head. In it Magic had been researched starting in the middle ages and was fully integrated into everyday life. Piers Anthony did something similar with his 'Incarnations of Immortality' series. So I think you could do it, but it would loose most of it's mysteriousness. You make a good point on religions in the Joshverse. Also a good point on where the spare parts came from.
BC1: Glad you like the series. As far as religion goes, I have no plans for it to swing that way. Clancy's characters, especially Jack and Robbie have been portrayed as very religious people. So to not address this would be to take them out of character. As far as the PTBs go, we never really got to see much of the interaction between them. There was a series of novels in the Forgotten Relms series were the gods had gotten booted out into the mortal realm because they were ignoring their responsibilities. At the end of the series the head god of the pantheon reported to someone above him that he had fixed the problem. So there could well be something like that going on here.
Now worries. Your points fell well within the realm of constructive criticism and gave me some stuff to think about.
Dorothy: Colonel Hamm is a professional. But has worries when some one gets added to the chain of command who technically ranks him and looks like he might be an insta-general.
Harry: The only problem is that the only one who knows how to fix BB is Willow.
JA Baker: Thanks for the review.
Paladin Steelbreaker: Imhotep is also a powerful telekinetic. When he fought the Scorpion King Anubis had taken his powers so he was more or less mortal. Unfortunately in order to qualify for the Congressional Medal of Honor you have to be a uniformed member of the US Armed Forces deployed to an area of armed conflict. The bestowing of the medal also has to be voted on by Congress as it comes with a pension.
When Buffy was shot at the end of Season Six Willow healed her. Buffy just wasn't going to tell Doc Sanchez that part. Buffy really hates hospitals! Diggs will be getting in some action in the next story. Thank you for the compliment.
Allen Pitt: Thanks for the review. Warren had to have a source for advanced parts because he built April when he was still in college. I can't remember if he ever said where he got the cash from. And your right it couldn't have been that much because he put BB together fairly quickly.
Joe: In Chapter 15 there is a short piece with Jack being informed of what happened. It's about at the midway point of the chapter. Sorry for the confusion. You could well be right about a geas. It could be an offshoot of whatever kept people on the outside from asking embarrassing questions or noticing anything going on.
Tjackflash: Thank you for the compliment.
war90: I hope this one is worth the wait.
Thanks to all that reviewed. Constructive criticisms always welcomed. Flames cheerfully ignored.
FIC STARTS HERESunnydale
International Airport
Sunnydale, CA
30Oct2003
0959 hrs
The white Lear Jet taxied toward hanger number Four. Inside were five people, a crew of two and three passengers, sitting in the first set of chairs in the cabin were two women. One was blonde the other brunette. Both were lean, not the lean of fashion models, but rather the lean that comes from intense training. The blonde was wearing a white business suit and flats. The brunette was wearing leather pants with a light gray top with a leather jacket on top. A careful look at the jacket would reveal that it had been tailored to be a little looser than expected under the armpits. A pair of sunglasses with rose-colored lenses was pushed up onto the top of her head. The third passenger was a man, tall and lean also. He wore a pair of gray slacks and dark navy blazer.
The brunette smiled when she caught the blonde scowling her direction, "Purdy, you still aren't upset that Steed asked me to come along on this little jaunt are you?"
'I'm always happy for your company Lara; I just hate to see you waste your time on this. Between Michael here," she said nodding at the figure in the back, "and the forces that have been deployed to this town, I seriously doubt I'll get into trouble between here and where Rupert Giles is staying."
"Well if it makes you feel any better, I was planning coming this way later in the week anyway, plus I have business with the Slayer."
Interested Purdy asked, "What sort of business?"
Lara Croft reached under her seat and pulled out a titanium brief case. Popping the latches, she turned the case so Purdy could see its contents. Inside was a dagger and sheath resting on a bed of dark blue velvet. The knife had a blade about 30 centimeters long and had several gentle curves in it . The blade was black with gold filigree next to the hilt. The hilt was in the form a of a crouching man and that had what looked like a pair of fire opals for eyes.
"That's a keris isn't it?" Purdy asked as she leaned over the case. Thinking she recognized it as a type of Indonesian dagger.
"Yes, it was given to me by a practitioner of one of their old religions. He showed up in my camp the night before I was to leave the area with the knife. He told me one of his ancestors had informed him were the dagger was, and that he was to bring it to me as I would run into the Slayer before he did."
Purdy cocked an eyebrow at the other woman, "So you just took his word for it, eh?"
"He managed to penetrate a rather complex security system that I had laid out around the camp. Actually, penetrate is an understatement, I had ducked into my tent for a second to get a cloth so I could oil my guns and when I came out he was sitting on the other side of the fire like he had been there all night. I thought that if he wanted to do me harm I would already be dead, so we shared a meal. After it was done he took out the knife and handed it to me. Told me it's name."
"Which is?" Purdy asked.
"It translates roughly as, "It is."
"Rather presumptuous name for a knife don't you think?" Purdy asked as she reached for the dagger. She glanced at Lara and receiving permission she took the knife out of the case and looked closely at the blade. "What metal is this made of?"
"Meteoric Iron," Lara explained. "The meteor that it came from supposedly landed next to the knife makers forge so he took it as a sign."
Purdy found the knife had an exquisite balance and looked like it had a razor edge on it. "So does it supposedly do anything?" Purdy asked.
"What do you mean?" Lara asked with a smile that said she was playing with the other woman.
"Oh come now, anytime you have a weapon made out of some exotic substances they always have supposed magical powers."
"Well this one doesn't," Lara said. "In fact I was told that it doesn't believe in magic."
Purdy replaced the keris in its slot and then gave Lara a hard look.
"From what my guest told me, 'It is' will ignore any type of magical defense as if the magic doesn't exist. I didn't have anything handy to test it on though so I don't know if he was telling the truth, or just having me on.
" I tried to find the Slayer as soon as I got back to England. But all the Watchers Council would do was say they would pass it on to the Slayer. But since I was told to give it to the Slayer personally I've been holding on to it for the last couple of years."
"What other business do you have around here," Purdy asked as the hanger doors started to open for the jet. Purdy's frown returned when she saw there were at least six men waiting for them.
"I recently discovered some information that indicates someone is looking into the resting place of The Old Ones. They were put to rest for very good reasons and it would not be a good thing if they were awoken.
"I found out who was looking for it, It's a law firm in LA that has a very unsavory reputation. I must not have been as circumspect as I thought because I received a call from their manager inviting me to join an expedition they are putting together to go look for them."
"Do you think it's a good idea to walk into the Lion's den then?" Purdy asked, concerned for her friend.
"Probably not, but it is a case of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. If I'm there I can probably stop them from doing something terminally stupid."
The plane came to a stop inside the hanger. Lara popped the case closed as Purdy and Michael got their stuff together.
Purdy was the first off of the plane. She smiled when she saw who was waiting for her. "Colonel Stanley, good to see you again."
"The pleasure is mine as always Purdy," Alistair returned. Turning to the Japanese man standing next to him, "May I present Lieutenant Kenshin Hiedoki, he's acting as Team One Leader till Major Covington recovers."
"What happened to Peter?" Purdy asked, concerned.
"He was stabbed in the shoulder, he should be back on duty in a week or so."
Purdy turned to those who had accompanied her, "Do you know Lady Croft?" she asked, pointing at the brunette.
"I've had the pleasure," Alistair replied as he took Lara hand, "Good to see you again Lady Croft."
"I've told you Alistair, it's Lara, I think we've been through enough with each other so that we should be on first name basis."
Turning to Kenshin Lara bowed and said, "Konichi-wa, Hiedoki Kenshin."
Kenshin returned her bow, perhaps a little deeper and a tad longer and then replied, "Konichi-wa, Lady Croft sama."
"How is your Grandfather?"
"He is well the last I spoke to him."
Lara cocked her head and noticed the hilt of a katana sticking up past Kenshin's left ear, "Is that your family's sword?"
"Hie," Kenshin replied.
"I hope you bring honor to it," Lara told the officer.
Purdy had waited till the exchange had finished and turned to the last member of her party, "And I think you also know Michael Yates here."
Alistair smiled warmly holding out his hand to the younger man, "Indeed I do. I had high hopes for him in the SAS till your lot came along and recruited him right out from under us."
Purdy only smiled, "We go where the talent is Alistair. The SAS has a lot of that."
"You won't get my forgiveness through flattery Purdy, I'm above that."
After sharing a laugh Alistair waved the party to one of the SUVs that were parked in the hanger. As they approached Purdy turned serious and asked, "Don't you think this is a little extreme, as far as an escort goes?"
Alistair shook his head as he opened the door for her, "Andrea Price, the head of the President Ryan's Secret Service detail, was attacked earlier today, here at the airport, as she was waiting for a pick up. General Clark didn't want to take any chances that you would be also. He's grateful to you for coming all this way and doesn't want to see anything happen to you."
"Well then, lets not keep the man waiting then," Purdy said as she climbed in.
Holy Family Church
423 Palm Avenue
Sunnydale CA
30Oct2003
10:04 hrs
Father Paul Gravely sat in the center box of his church's confessional. The confessional was set up so if the penitent desired he could slide the screen back and face the priest, or a mesh screen separated them, if that was what they desired.
Father Gravely had been pastor of Holy Family for almost three years. He had gotten the job when a vengeance spirit had killed the previous pastor, Father Gabriel. Father Gravely had been between assignments when he had been approached about the job. He had been between postings do to him blowing the whistle on his Bishop and his habit of simply transferring priests who had been involved in sexual improprieties instead of dealing with them. He had assumed he would be transferred either to a hospital that specialized in Ebola cases or a leprosarium somewhere. So when a posting to a small town in Southern California had come up he had leapt at the chance.
The briefing he received before his posting had really opened his eyes, he had believed in the existence of Evil before, but to find out that it had physical representation on Earth was something else. One surprise he had received when he arrived in Sunnydale was the presence of a Slayer. He had come across the legend in his studies, but it had been only a cursory study. He had sent a request and had received everything that the Vatican Library had on her, both the current one and the history of the Church and the Slayer.
Gravely had assumed that there was a relatively cordial relationship between the organizations, after all they both on the same side right? He had been shocked and more than a little angered when he found out that wasn't the case. The Church had discovered the Slayer in the 5th Century AD and had worked to bring her under papal control from that point on. It came to a head during the reign of Pope Innocent the VII when a shadow war had erupted. Reading between the lines, Gravely believed that the Pope, who wasn't in the most secure of positions, wanted the Slayer as a troubleshooter to bring his enemies to heal. The council had resisted and by the time it was over the Council had unleashed the Slayer on the Church. The war had ended with the death of Innocent in 1406 and while it was denied that the Slayer was the instrument of his demise, she was known to have been in Rome at the time of his sudden death.
He had been strictly told to stay away from the Slayer. While the Church had, in it's own ponderous way, changed since the 1400s; the Council though had never forgotten or forgiven what had happened. He had on several occasions sent in a request to contact her, especially if he noticed the Slayer seemed to be greatly burdened, but it had always been denied. Last year he had almost gone against orders. He had rarely seen the depth of despair that the young blonde had been falling into, but he had received a personal visit from his direct supervisor from Rome to ensure that he did not. He was to observe and report only. Well, there was one more thing he did.
Someone entered the confessional. Father Gravely waited for him to begin, but instead of the familiar, 'Bless me Father for I have sinned,' he heard, "Non Crux, Sed Lux," a pause then, "Carefully listen now very."
"I am listening," the priest said quietly.
"When you finish confessions today you are to go to the Archbishop of Las Angeles. You are to tell him that the Rite of Osiris has been performed and that the recipient was the Slayer. And that I await instructions."
Father Gravely repeated back both the instructions and the message, he then said, "Go with God."
The man on the other side of the confessional replied, "May he be with you also," then he left.
Inside the box Father Gravely swallowed. His actual job in Sunnydale was to be a cut out and messenger for the C'est Dei, but in his three years this was the first time he had been used. In this case his orders were specific, he had to wait at least twenty minutes before he left the box. Today it wouldn't be a problem, he tried to be in the confessional from Ten to Eleven AM everyday; Sunnydale, being what it was, he wanted to give his flock every chance at the sacraments. But it would be a long wait.
Outside Lt Carlos Menendez of the Sunnydale PD lit two candles and then kneeled as if to say his penance. Instead he prayed for the strength to meet the challenges that were coming.
1630 Revello Drive
Sunnydale, CA
30Oct2003
10:09 Hrs
Buffy was worried. She was looking over Ding's shoulder as he was watching a monitor that was showing what the cameras that one of the two Predator drones that were currently orbiting Sunnydale saw. They had borrowed them from the Border Patrol down in San Diego, but so far they hadn't helped at all. There was supposed to be some other kind of drone that was being shipped in that should be up and operating in the next couple of hours. Buffy had never heard of it but Xander had actually drooled when John had mentioned the name.
Meredith O'Connell had come through last night. She explained the whole ceremony to them. The sacrifice would be wrapped as a mummy. The wrappings would be impregnated with certain herbs, and then the surface would be inscribed with the necessary symbols and hieroglyphics. Then they would only have to wait five days, and then they could unwrap Imhotep, and he could pick up were he left off back in the thirties.
Buffy had originally been optimistic, after all five days was a long time. Then Rachel Frazer, who had accompanied O'Connell, had explained about long-term sensory deprivation, what Willow was in all likelihood undergoing right now, and told them they had only three days, perhaps less to find and release Willow or there could be long term psychological problems. This had been hammered home when O'Connell's men, with Rainbow backup, had discovered where Anck-Su-Namun had been observing the house. The couple was technically still alive, but the husband, who according to records that had been left behind, had been wrapped for almost two weeks, he just laid there and stared at the ceiling. There was some brain activity Buffy had been told, but it was minimal. The wife was worse, she had been wrapped for only eight days, but she went berserk if the lights were turned off, or there wasn't some kind of sound in the area.
Everyone had assumed finding Anck-Su-Namun's base would be fairly simple, after all there couldn't be that many places in the area that you could hide a small army and was recently rented. But so far none of them had checked out. So they were reduced to street patrols and the drones. Buffy had wanted to go and sweat Willy the bartender, but Clark wouldn't hear of it with her leg. Instead he sent Riley. He had returned about an hour later with no new information. Spike had volunteered to go, but Buffy didn't want him wandering around with out her being there incase the First decided to activate him again.
Clark came in from the kitchen with a mug of coffee in his hand and frowned when he saw Buffy standing behind Ding, "Buffy you promised the Doc you'd stay off of that leg. She catches you up and around I'm not going to stop her from readmitting you."
Buffy looked over her shoulder, "I can't just sit and do nothing. My best friend is slowly going insane out there somewhere."
Clark nodded, "And we need you at full strength when we hit them. You'll heal faster if you take a load off."
Turning to David Paled, the Rainbow's Israeli Electronics expert he asked, "David, can you rig something up next to Buffy's chair in the living room?"
David nodded, "Sure we have a couple of extra monitors. He got up to get started and Eddie Price slid into the chair.
Buffy shook her head at Rainbow Six, but started moving to the living room.
As she crossed the foyer the doorbell rang. "If that's Doc Sanchez, I don't know you," Clark called.
Buffy waved him off and opened the door, "Dad?" she asked in surprise when she saw who was on her doorstep. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi Buffy," Hank began nervously, "Can I come in?" I have some legal stuff I need to talk about with you. Behind Buffy, Hank saw Dawn coming down the steps; she froze when she saw him in the doorway. Then her expression hardened.
'Hi Dawn," He said to his younger daughter.
"Greetings sperm-donor," Dawn told him, then something seemed to occur to her, "no wait, you aren't even that, are you?" She then turned and started to walk out of his line of sight.
"Dawn!" Buffy admonished.
Dawn turned, "What? They," gesturing to something out of sight, "know."
Curious, Hank stuck his head in the door to get a look at whom Dawn was talking too. He got a brief look at a bunch of men sitting around the dinning room table. There seemed to be a lot of papers and monitors on it. He only got a quick look as Buffy put her hand against his chest and pushed him back out onto the porch. One particular hard eyed individual stuck in his mind.
"Let's take this around back," Buffy said as she started down the steps.
"Buffy!" a voice called from inside, "You are supposed to stay off of that leg!"
"There are chairs back there, and the air will do it good."
Hank Summers noticed for the first time that his daughter was limping. Looking closely, he also noticed a fading brush burn on her face and her arms. "What happened?" He asked as the fatherly instincts kicked in.
Buffy glared at him sideways, "I was in an accident, it's nothing."
Buffy led her father around the house to back yard. She sat on one of the picnic table's benches and cocked an eyebrow at him.
This was happening faster than Hank had anticipated, he knew that Buffy would be pissed, but he wasn't expecting her to be hosting a house full of people. Suddenly what Dawn had said made it to the surface. "What did Dawn mean that I wasn't even a sperm-donor?"
Buffy frowned; she'd hoped he'd missed that. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't concern you at all."
Hank got a little angry, "What do you mean it doesn't concern me? I'm her father damn it, I have a right to know."
Buffy came off of the bench, "Right? RIGHT? You gave up any rights you had when you ran off to merry old Spain with your secretary. Now what do you want? I'm a little busy here."
Hank got his emotions under control; this was no longer the teenager that he had once known. Someone he could order around, not that he was ever very successful at that anyway. And he had to admit; he had given that up when he had abandoned them three years ago. Instead he said, "I'm sorry Buffy, you're right. But please, I'd like to know the truth. Did Joyce have an affair?"
Inside the house, Spike was washing his mug out when Hank had shown up at the door. When he had been heading to Africa to get his soul he had considered paying Hank Summers a visit. He figured the headache would be worth it to score some brownie points with the Slayer after what he had done. But, in the end he had decided that she might not appreciate that so he hadn't. When Buffy had announced that she was moving the meeting to the back yard Spike had wished he had some whisky handy. This was going to be a good show. When Buffy had come off of the bench he had smiled in anticipation. He began to smile wolfishly when he got a look at Buffy's face when Hank had asked something else. Turning to the room he called, "One of you lot might want to call an ambulance."
"Why?" Xander's voice came from the other room.
"Because I think the Slayer is about to take her father apart," was the reply.
He quickly turned back, not wanting to miss a second. There was a sudden flurry of movement from the other room as first Xander, then Ding and John Clark charged into the room. They got there just in time to watch Buffy start poking her father in the chest while chewing him a new one.
"YOU. Poke. Don't. Poke. GET. Poke. To. Poke. Accuse. Poke. Mom. Poke. Of. Poke. THAT. Poke," she snarled at her father.
Hank took an involuntary step back, that finger had hurt a lot. The look Buffy had in her eyes was frightening. Buffy moved forward to maintain the distance with her father. Hank made himself meet her eyes and asked quietly, "Please, I'd like to know the truth."
Buffy's first instinct was to tell her father that he couldn't handle the truth. But she decided that she didn't want to come off sounding like Jack Nicholson. So instead she said, "You want the truth? Okay, I hope you handle it better than Mom did.
"Remember back in LA when I started having those nightmares and seeing vampires everywhere?"
Hank nodded.
"Then you and Mom committed me. The shrinks looked me over and gave me a clean bill of health."
"I remember Buffy, they said it was a teenage thing, that you were looking for attention,"
"Well you know what Dad? They missed it on two counts. The first was that I wasn't looking for attention, and the second was that I wasn't normal.
"About two weeks after I was released this creepy guy by the name of Merrick showed up. He explained I had been Chosen to be the latest in this long line of warriors called Vampire Slayers. That was when I started sneaking out of the house at night and coming home with blood on my clothes, which you and Mom so completely ignored.
"You know Dad, one thing that's always bugged me is why neither you or Mom ever asked about the gym. You had to be at least a little curious about why I did it."
Hank had been looking more uncomfortable as Buffy got into her story, "Joyce and I had just reached the point where we realized we couldn't save the marriage Buffy. When they didn't charge you I had assumed it was some kind of accident. After the divorce, well, I thought if you wanted to talk about it you would. So why did you do it?"
Buffy eased herself back down on the bench, "There was a master vampire by the name of Lothos. I shoved a stake through his chest. Unfortunately, he was up against some electrical panels that I hadn't seen. Something started to burn and it got out of control."
Hank was starting to look a little green around the gills, Oh God, Buffy, he thought to himself, I need to get out of here get you help. Deciding that he needed to play along he asked, "What does this have to do with Dawn said?"
"Just providing some background. This area around here is called the El Boca del Inferno,"
"The Mouth of Hell?" Hank translated
"Or the Hellmouth," Buffy confirmed. "I don't know if something guided Mom, or if it was just dumb luck. But we ended up here. I made quite a rep for myself too over the next four years. So big of a rep that a bunch of monks over in Europe somewhere, who were guarding this thing called "The Key" decided that I would make a good new guardian for the thing. They needed one because this crazy Hellgod was on a rampage looking for it and she had was getting close to them. So they sent The Key to me in a form they knew I'd defend, a sister."
"They put this Key thing in Dawn?" Hank asked
"No Dad, they made Dawn," Buffy corrected.
"These Monks knew you'd be this Slayer when you were six?" Hank was trying to keep the delusion straight.
Buffy shook her head, "No Dad, I'd been the Slayer for almost six years at that point."
"But you said you that you only became the Slayer when you were fifteen!" Hank protested.
"Yeah Dad," Buffy agreed with her father.
"Buffy, I was there when Dawn was delivered, I was there when we brought her home, her first Christmas, first day of school. I was there for it all and it was long before you entered high school."
Buffy gave her dad a tired smile, "No Dad you weren't. Just like I wasn't there when you and Mom brought her home from the hospital, or anything else you can remember up to a little over two years ago. The first time you have actually ever seen Dawn was in the foyer, just a little while ago. Everything else you think you remember is just memories implanted by the spell that created Dawn.
"You wanted the truth? You got it. Now what do I have to sign, then you can take it and head back to Spain or wherever else you need to go."
Hank numbly handed over the documents. Buffy leafed through them, gave them a really quick read then borrowing a pen signed them. She then started limping back to the house. Just before she went inside she turned back to her dad, who was still just standing there and said, "If you need a little while to get yourself back together, fine, we will be using the backyard in about a half an hour. I'd like you gone by then. I think you can find the front of the house yourself." She then went in the back door.
She headed for the living room and saw that David had got the monitor set up. She had just about set herself down when the doorbell rang again. Scowling Buffy got up and went to the door. Yanking it open she snarled, "I thought I told you to leave Dad!"
Instead of her dad Buffy found a man, average height, slim build, black hair with some gray shot through it standing there. He was dressed in a sport shirt and khakis. "Hi," he said, "My name is Bob Holtzman, I'm a reporter with the Washington Post Newspaper. I sent an email to Willow Rosenberg, about the bombing in London. She seemed to know some of the people involved. I asked if she would be willing to be interviewed and she replied that she would be willing to talk to me. Could I speak to her please?"
Buffy's eyes went hard, "I'm sorry, Willow is out of town right now. She should be back later in the week. If you leave a card, I'll pass on that you want to talk to her though."
Holtzman rooted through his jacket pockets and dug up a card. He handed to Buffy and she thanked him and started closing the door. "Are you Buffy Summers?" he asked.
Buffy turned, her eyes narrowing more.
"I have some I'd like to ask you too. Like, 'What's a Slayer going to do now that the Watchers Council has been blown up?"
Buffy's eyes went wide.