I've had lots of visitors but not comments yet; should I even continue? Please let me know what you think.
"Kate, I want to know where he is and I want to know now" President Santos demanded as Kate and Riley Finn entered the Oval Office.
"They have just left the hospital and everyone seems to be safe, sir. They are heading to Sam's apartment and Mrs. Bartlett is on her way there; apparently there are some injuries."
"Sam's hurt" Josh asked, rising to his feet. "Sir, I'd like to go over there please."
"Sit, Josh" Matt instructed, before returning his attention to Kate. "How bad ar-" Matt Santos' gaze once again fell on to his Chief of Staff, who had remained standing. Raising an eyebrow, Matt sent a silent question to Josh who quickly sank to the sofa behind him. "How bad are the injuries?"
"Some cuts and bruises on the vampire and Giles, possible concussion on the slayer, Woods has a dislocated shoulder, Rosenberg pulled some stitches and Sam was hit with shattering glass. He is fine, Josh."
"We need to send a doctor over there; someone other than Abby. I can't ask her to be involved in this mess."
"I didn't have a choice, sir. As soon as she heard about the gas explosion and that the group was heading to Sam's place, she took off" Kate explained, knowing she was on thin ice.
"Would you care to explain to me how a former First Lady knew the situation status before the President of the United States?"
"I believe the former President of the United States is to blame" Jed Bartlett answered as he wheeled himself into the office. "Don't take it out on Kate, Matt. I was eavesdropping."
"Jed –"
"Matt" Jed interrupted and held up his hand, "Sam, like Josh, is a part of my family. I would do anything for my family. Abby feels the same, especially about the boys. You couldn't have stopped her if you had used the 82nd Airborne."
Matthew Santos solemnly nodded his head and motioned for Kate to join Josh on the couch.
"What is going on?"
"I'm sorry sir; I'm not entirely sure what you are asking."
"Early yesterday evening, you inform me that not only do vampires and demons exist but that we have an entire secret government agency that specializes in destroying said demons. You also inform me that there is a band of girls that are cosmically destined to fight said demons and that the secret government agency is being asked to help them. I then witnessed the most spectacular lightening show know to man and I have been asked to write it off as a weather anomaly. I have a magical showdown at an area hospital that demolishes part of the building and I'm asked to write it off as a gas explosion. I have a Deputy Chief of Staff who is somehow involved with all of this and a former First Lady who is running around like she is back in her internship – No offense Jed."
"None taken."
"And you aren't sure what I'm asking?"
"Sir, you are as informed as I am" Kate stated, her back straight, her tone crisp. Matt cut his eyes at her.
"Sir? If I may" Riley asked uncomfortable. Matt held Kate's gaze for a minute before he turned his attention to the young commander. "This group, due to their history, is extremely secretive about their operations. In the past they have not been able to rely on anyone or any organization and any time they have tried they have had their hands slapped."
"Is that how you would describe it Riley?"
Five heads swiveled to the voice from coming from the doorway. Riley, Josh, Kate and the president rose to their feet with mixed expressions as they took in the forms of a petite young blonde and a young man wearing an eye-patch.
"Thank God" Riley breathed.
"A slap on the hand? Bit of an understatement, don't you think?"
"Sir, Buffy Summers and Xander Harris" Riley introduced.
"Reporting for duty" Xander stated with a grin. "Where's my girl?"
"Xander –"
"No, Riley; where is Willow" Buffy demanded not even acknowledging the other people in the room.
"I'll explain-"
"No explanations needed, just tell me where Willow is and I'll be out of your hair."
"Sir, these are two of the leaders of the –"
"Scoobies?"
"Yes" Riley answered uncomfortably. "Buffy, Xander this is Matthew Santos, the President of the United States."
"But…I thought…"Xander muttered as he pointed back and forth between Matt and Jed. "Man, do you miss a lot when you live in Europe and fight the beasties. Buff, you might want to dial down on the rudeness" Xander muttered under his breath before crossing the room with his hand outstretched. "Pleasure to meet you, your high…I mean, your magnif…"
"Sir or Mr. President will do just fine" Matt interrupted not taking Xander's hand. "How did you get in here?"
"Easy! A little eye of newt, tongue of a bat and some abracadabra" Xander replied sheepishly as he eased away from Matt. "Andrew is starting to get real good at portals and the like; we even have all of our parts this time."
"Xander" Buffy warned.
"Shutting up now."
"Willow?"
"Is safe, Ms. Summers; she is safe as are Woods, Lehane, Giles and the vampire" Kate answered. "They are currently on their way to a safe location."
"If the government knows where they are going then they are not safe."
"I assure you that they are" Jed stated, wheeling himself towards her. "My wife is with them; they are safe."
"Isn't your wife a doctor?"
"Yes, son, she is. Your friends and Sam experienced a little trouble at the hospital. They have since relocated to Sam's residence."
"Riley, I need an address and a car" Buffy stated as she turned to leave the group.
"Now just one minute young lady," Matt demanded. "You aren't getting anything until I get some answers. Your friends are safe and they will stay that way as long as they are under my protections. I need to know what in God's name is going on!"
"God has nothing to do with it, Mr. President. You want answers? Fine, I'll give you answers." Buffy walked towards the couch, her patience extremely thin. "You have a rogue slayer on your hands."
"A what?" Josh, Matt, Jed and Kate all questioned at the same time.
"A rogue slayer."
The room was silent as Buffy let it sink it. She set herself on the arm of the couch, her mouth sealed to any other sort of conversation. Xander quickly moved to sit beside her.
"Enough with the cryptic Buff; these people have every right to know" he stated before turning to the rest of the group. "What we have is a rogue slayer; a slayer that has strayed to the dark side so to speak."
"How dark", Kate asked.
"Full on Anakin Skywalker; at this point she just hasn't made it to Mustafar."
"I don't understand" Jed stated, turning to face Kate and Josh.
"Mustafar," Josh explained, "is the planet where Anakin Skywalker symbolically dies and becomes Darth Vader," he added once he saw the faces of his boss and colleague. "It's a pop culture reference sir, one that exposes my geekdom,"
Kate held Josh's gaze with amazement before slowly turning to the blond. "What do we do?"
"You do nothing" Buffy hissed.
"Buff," Xander warned. "When this has happened in the past –"
"This has happened before?"
"With Faith but –"
"Faith? The girl that is with Sam right now!" Josh jumped to his feet in surprise.
"Hold on to those reigns, cowboy" Xander begged, holding his hands up. "You don't just push an attack on a rogue slayer. Trust me when I say it doesn't work. Dana has been working with Faith, Willow, Giles and Robin for some time. She is special and as such should be treated delicately."
"Special how," Matt questioned. "Is she smarter or stronger than usual?"
"No more than the average slayer; Dana's advantage is that she is a couple of flapjacks short of a full stack."
"When she was a child, Dana was tortured by the man who killed her family. Walter Kindel –"
"Walter Kindel, the serial killer?" Kate interrupted Buffy.
"The one and the same."
"This girl has spent most of her life in an institution."
"Ten points; Xander tell the government lady what she has won."
Kate gaze hardened at Buffy's sarcasm before she turned her attention to Xander. "What has happened with her?"
"She was originally found by a colleague of ours and when we realized that she was a potential, we stepped in and began her training. Unfortunately, we were ill-equipped to handle her psychological problems. Will and the others were making progress with her until Spike was sent to help out. Her previous experience with Spike, he was one of the ones who initially found her at the institution, was not good as she associated Spike with Kindel, but we felt and thought she had moved passed it. Unfortunately, we were wrong."
"So something about this Spi – is that really his name?" Matt interrupted himself.
"No, but William the Bloody doesn't really flow off the tongue."
"Agreed," Matt replied, his cautious gaze catching Jed's. "So something about Spike is triggering her ordeal with Kindel. Do you know what the trigger is?"
"We used to but…"
"Regardless of what her trigger is," Buffy interjected, "it doesn't matter. She is no longer a potential channeling Patty Hurst. Dana has discovered magic. We now have a psychotic, magically inclined, super strong, quick healing woman-child on our hands who is hell bent on taking out those who have been trying to control her."
"There is something I don't understand" Josh stated.
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Listen lady," Josh yelled, jumping to his feet and invading Buffy's space. "It's enough that we are trying to negotiate with China and deal with another potential disaster in the Middle East, while trying to run a country but now we have to help with your problem. You just dumped all this mess on our doorstep, so try a little bit of humble pie and shut the hell up with the sarcastic remarks."
"Mr. Lyman, please" Riley begged, his hand on Josh's arm.
"I'm not going to hurt her."
"I'm not worried about her, sir" Riley answered, gently easing Josh away from Buffy. "Buffy, while I don't agree with the delivery, Mr. Lyman does have a point, so a little tact might be helpful." Buffy's blue eyes shot razors at Riley, who simply turned his back. "What was your question Mr. Lyman?"
Josh continued to stare at Buffy while he tried to pull himself together. The toll of the past two days was starting to show.
"What does all of this have to do with Sam? Why is he involved? Until yesterday, we had never heard of any of you or what you do."
"Your friend has a connection to both Faith and Dana" Xander answered. "We are still trying to figure everything out but it appears that Sam's father, Jason Seaborn, was a member of the Watcher's Council and he knew about Dana. It also appears that he is Faith's biological father."
