Author's Note: I am, of course, completely making up the jail layout.
Disclaimer: Daria belongs to Glenn Eichler; Buffy and Faith belong to Joss Whedon; Mrs. Krueger and Cameron Kim belong to me.
X X X X X
Mrs. Krueger waited at a shopping center close to the women's prison until well after dark. She'd have to walk to the jail from there, but she kept herself in excellent shape, so this wasn't really a problem.
The real problem was figuring out where to get inside the prison. She knew where Faith Lehane was being held; the packet Dunwitty had given her had contained a diagram of the prison as well as the ten grand she'd demanded as her up front payment.
While she was intangible, she was also invisible, but she was also only partly aware of her surroundings. Enough so that she didn't rematerialize inside something -- the incident that had cost her her hand notwithstanding. But it was impossible to make out details, such as whether or not any guards were watching where she was standing. Also, she wouldn't have a whole lot of time to wander around the outside of the building. So although coming through the north end would have gotten her to Lehane's cell a lot faster, there was no way she'd make it over there on the outside without being detected.
So Mrs. Krueger settled for going through the main visitor's entrance. She walked up as far as she dared, went intangible, and made her way forward.
She knew where the cameras were. The LA County women's prison had cameras covering the main hallways, the outside of the jail, some rooms, and of course the cellblocks, although not the individual cells, the secondary hallways, or some of the smaller rooms. Since she had the map with her, and a decent sense of direction and location even when she was intangible, she should be able to avoid appearing on camera.
Not that it would necessarily be the end of her mission if she did show up in front of a camera for a second or two. This took into account the likely general boredom of whatever guards got stuck on monitor duty, and also the reluctance of most people to believe their eyes when a woman suddenly popped in and out of existence right in front of them. (That's the way it appeared to other people. It wasn't a gradual fading, which was odd, because it felt like a gradual fading.)
If she was right, she should be in the warden's office by now. When she popped back in, she was happy to see she was right. After looking around for a few seconds to catch her bearings, she took a couple of breaths, became intangible again, and kept going.
The next time Mrs. Krueger popped in, she was in a small back hallway. Then the kitchen area, deserted at this time of night.
Now was when things started to get tricky. She was getting near the cellblock where Faith Lehane was being held, but not close enough that she could safely make it there on a straight shot. If she wanted to get her bearings, she'd either have to rematerialize in a cell block hallway and risk getting seen by a camera, or in one of the cells themselves, which would be occupied by prisoners who might or might nit be asleep, and might scream in terror, attack her, or both. She'd inspired both reactions before. More than once, in the same person.
Okay. Time to earn her pay. Hallway. Brief appearance. One second.
Then, a cell. Two women inside. Both asleep.
Down one level. Going through ceilings or floors required concentration. Left to itself, her body tended to stay at the level it was at when she went intangible. This had nearly killed her once when she'd accidentally walked outside a building on the thirtieth floor. Luckily, she'd had the presence of mind to go intangible again before she smashed into the ground.
Another hallway. Two seconds. If she was right, Lehane's cell should be about fifty feet ahead. She heard an odd skittering noise behind her, but when she turned around she saw nothing. As she popped back out, she cursed the overactive imagination that had made her look in the first place, and got ready to make her final approach.
Within three minutes, Faith Lehane should be dead.
X X X X X
No one, in fact, noticed the orangutan.
Or the pronghorn, the leopard, or the mutt.
As soon as it was completely dark, Cameron Kim started towards the prison. She needed to get there fairly early, because she had no idea when Mrs. Krueger was going to try to kill Faith Lehane, and Cameron wanted to be sure she got there first.
To get there at best speed, she became a pronghorn as soon as she'd put the lights of the shopping center behind her. Not common to Los Angeles, true, but anyone who saw her would almost certainly assume they'd seen a mule deer.
When she got close enough that the guards of the prison might be able to see her if they looked closely enough, she became a dog. Of course, she was relying that the guards were professional and disciplined enough not to take potshots at the mutt. If they did, she'd have to come up with another idea.
As she wandered around the outside of the prison, she watched the guards patrol and noted the locations of the cameras and the lights. Pretending to be looking for food, she sniffed around and gradually went to where she'd determined on her earlier visit was the best place to go over the wall.
Finally, the guards turned their heads, the cameras swiveled away. Cameron became an orangutan and scrambled to the top of the fence as quickly as she could. When she got there, she perched for a second to judge how far she'd have to jump, shifted into a leopard, and leapt to the ground.
Still a leopard, she sprinted to the jail's outer wall. It was smooth enough that human beings not named Spider-Man would have found climbing it an impossibility, but fortunately, Cameron didn't always have to be a human being. Becoming an orangutan again, she clambered up the side of the building.
She paused as she got to the top, not sure if there were any guards posted on the building's roof. It was the one area she hadn't been able to see from the ground.
There was one. Briefly, she wondered what the hell a guard had to do to get stuck on this duty. Did she piss in the warden's cornflakes, or something? It wasn't as though the prisoners would get any benefit from making it up to the roof unless they could either fly or jump a hundred feet out and fifty feet down without becoming street pizza, and the guards in the watch towers had a much better view of the grounds.
Still, even though there was only one guard, Cameron had to avoid the woman. Sure, she could knock her out or kill her fairly easily, but that would only get the alarm raised faster than Cameron wanted it raised the next time the guard didn't report in, or someone came to relieve her and found her body. So, sneaking was in order. And the door to the inside was propped open. Seemed like a dumb place to encourage your guards to prop open any doors, but Cameron wasn't going to be voicing any complaints.
Not a lot of hiding places, though, and the roof was well-enough lit that she couldn't simply hide in the shadows.
Well, crap. That left her only one real choice, and it was one she hated.
Waiting until the guard had her back completely turned, Cameron swung over to the far corner of the roof, climbed onto it, and became a python.
She was now about fifteen feet long, but most importantly, she was low to the ground (okay, low to the roof) and hard to see -- while the roof was well-lit it wasn't bright all the way around. Quickly, she slithered as close to the roof entrance as she could and still remain in the shadows. The guard walked over fairly close to where she was sitting -- if she saw Cameron, the shapeshifter would have to make a break for it -- but she moved away before anything happened.
Inwardly breathing a sigh of relief, she slithered up to the door. Thankfully, it looked like she could just fit through the crack. Since she knew the nearest guard station was a fair distance away, she wouldn't have to deal with any startled corrections officers as she went down the stairs. She went inside and down the stairs, then stopped for a second to figure out where she was in relation to Faith Lehane's cell, and how best to get there.
Before she went on the assignment, Wolfram & Hart had magically implanted a complete floor plan of the prison inside her head, complete with camera and guard post locations. Apparently the lone woman on the roof didn't qualify as a guard post. So she knew where Lehane was. Hell, Cameron even knew she was in a cell by herself.
And, now that she stopped to think, she knew the best way to get there. For most of the way, it would probably be better for her if she stayed as a python, no matter how much it bothered her. There was something different about becoming a cold-blooded creature. She'd never become a fish -- Wolfram & Hart had other agents they could use for undersea work -- never been an amphibian, only rarely became a bird (since emu and cassowary was about her range, there didn't seem to a point), and only became a python when she needed to be inconspicuous.
Cameron couldn't take the fastest route, unfortunately. The roof guard might not have seen her, but she couldn't rely on every guard in the building being as careless. And even though a python wouldn't be as noticeable as a cassowary or orangutan, there might be some people who'd notice the 15-foot long snake slithering along the floor.
It took her back hallways and ventilation shafts, but eventually she got to the row of cells where Faith Lehane was being held.
Now she had to be extremely careful. Not all the prisoners were asleep yet. While they still couldn't see her, she took the shape of he roof guard and walked down the row of cells.
Lehane herself was asleep, but Cameron couldn't wait in her cell -- she'd have no warning when Mrs. Krueger showed up. So she walked back to the middle of the row, waited until she was near a collection of cells where all the inmates were sleeping, changed back to a python, and slithered inside to wait.
She guessed it was about an hour later when Mrs. Krueger popped in. It had been a nerve-wracking wait, during which she had wondered whether it was the inmates or the guards who would find her first.
Cameron was coiled to strike at a moment's notice, though, and as soon as Mrs. Krueger appeared, she left the cell, shifted into leopard form, and got ready to spring, all within half a second.
But Mrs. Krueger started to turn around, and Cameron quickly changed back into a python and raced off into the nearest cell. The assassin had an absolutely deadly reputation; when Cameron struck it was important that it be a surprise. She didn't want the woman to phase out, and she wanted to be struck by the woman's metal hand even less.
Fortunately, Mrs. Krueger didn't see her. Instead, she turned back and popped back out of sight.
Cameron moved back out of the cell, staying a python this time, and quickly slithered down the hall towards Lehane's Cell.
The attack was coming. Cameron needed to be ready for it.
X X X X X
"They're hardly going to stay still so you can stake them," the echo began. "And it's not like fighting a person. You have to take into account that vampires are stronger, faster, and tougher than humans, and that they don't take the same damage a human being does. Slice a human's leg with a knife, they'll be crippled and bleeding. The same slice to a vampire will hurt them and maybe make them limp for a while, but they'll get better if you let them, and they'll still be able to fight. Not that you shouldn't slash them in the leg if you get the chance; but you have to be aware of the differences."
"I'm guessing you don't use a lot of weapons, though," Daria said.
"Well, stakes, obviously. Crossbows are good from a distance, and I know how to use a lot of them. I've used swords, knives, clubs, and a lot of the time I've just improvised with whatever's handy. I've never learned guns. They're better than nothing, but people tend to get overconfident when they're carrying them, and they won't kill a vampire unless you're carrying rounds powerful enough to blow their heads completely off -- and those aren't common. So, you're right. I prefer hand-to-hand in most situations. There are times when you'll need a specific weapon -- some critters can only be killed with a silver blade, or something -- but that's the advanced class. Right now you just need to concentrate on the basics."
"Which would explain why you are once again beating me to a pulp."
"That, and it's fun," Buffy said, grinning. "Look. You have Faith's instincts to fall back on, but I really don't think your own are as bad as you think. The problem is, you're training against me, and you training against me is like a Golden Gloves boxer trying to take on Muhammad Ali. Unfortunately, at the moment, I'm all you've got."
Daria blinked. "Did you really just compare yourself to Muhammad Ali?"
"I am the greatest," Buffy said, without the least trace of modesty.
"Are you this arrogant in real life?"
"Probably not," Buffy conceded. "I'm Faith's perception of Buffy, mixed with some of the real Buffy left over from the body switch. And even though Faith finally realized that letting people die when she could do something about it is 'wrong,' her opinion of me's likely still mixed at best. But it's probably not completely off the mark."
"I can't wait to meet her," Daria said.
"Hold on. Wait. Let me guess. That was sarcasm, right?"
"Gee, you're bright. I--"
All of a sudden Buffy blinked and said, "What the hell?"
"Buffy?"
"Hold on a second," Buffy said seriously. Then, "Wake up."
"What?"
Buffy said, "No time to argue," and reached over and pinched Daria.
Daria blinked and opened her eyes --
Right in time to see a woman with a metallic hand reaching for her throat.