Author's Note: And the next part.

The thing about the winter coats is totally understandable to anyone who's lived their whole life in California.

Enjoy!

Election day, 2008.

"So? Who did you vote for?" Owen asked, as Gwen walked into the Hub, suitcase packed and winter gear in hand.

"That's private," Gwen informed him, parking her suitcase with the others.

"Harold Saxon," said Owen, nodding. "Thought so."

Gwen shot him a look, then walked over to the computers, where Tosh was still working on typing in the code she needed to make sure the Hub was secured while they were away.

"Well, I was going to vote for the other one," Ianto said, slouched in the doorway, hands in his pockets, "but with the splendid holiday venues Mr. Saxon chooses to send us to, he swayed my opinion."

Ianto's luggage was filled to bursting with heavy coats, mittens, scarves, anything he could find.

"Afraid you'll feel a little chilly in the Himalayas?" Owen asked Ianto.

"Never hurts to be prepared," said Ianto.

Tosh gave a small laugh, beneath her breath. She knew as well as the rest of them that Ianto had packed triple the amount of winter-gear, because Buffy — upon hearing that she needed a higher rated winter coat to bring to the Himalayas — had said, "Wait, coats have ratings?!"

Which meant that Buffy was probably going to be freezing.

And Seo wasn't going to be much better.

"Where is Buffy?" asked Gwen. Checking her watch. "I thought she'd be here, by now."

Owen hit a few buttons at the computer nearest him. And brought up the CCTV footage for right outside the Plass.

"There," he said.

Buffy was rolling a suitcase along the Plass, and speaking very animatedly, it looked like, to herself.

"You know… airport security is going to be a nightmare with Seo," Owen muttered. "Moment they notice she doesn't show up on anything… we're all going on the No Fly list."

"I've got some tricks up my sleeve," Tosh assured him. "She'll be fine."

"Sorry we're late," said Buffy, entering the Hub with Seo beside her. "Traffic was a nightmare. Did you know there's an election on, today? I thought that was supposed to be in November."

Everyone looked at Buffy, blankly.

"You know, Tuesday after the first Monday in…?" Buffy stopped. Sighed. "Whatever. Never mind." She turned to Ianto. "Do you have an extra coat? Seo forgot to pack one."

Seo didn't say a word. Didn't even look at them, her eyes fixed on the floor, a pensive frown on her face.

"Two extras," Ianto told her, nodding at his luggage.

Buffy swept Ianto into a tight hug. "I don't know how I survived without you."

Gwen stood up, in the center of the Hub. Clapped to get their attention. "Right!" she called out. "Owen, pack up the med-lab equipment we'll need. Tosh, finish up here. Yan, you're with me in the armory. And you two…" Turning to Buffy and Seo, "…think you can handle a weevil?"

"Easy," said Buffy.

"Then you get to fill up the automatic feeding dispenser systems in the cells," said Gwen. "Everyone clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Flight leaves in seven hours," said Gwen, heading towards the armory with Ianto. "Allowing for time for Seo to fail airport security and us to manage to talk them out of arresting her, everyone should meet back here in two hours to go to the airport."

Tosh paused in her work, as she noticed the lights flickering, down in the freezers. The lights… and the cameras. She checked the readings. The freezers were all… failing. Massively failing. For no discernible reason.

Tosh sighed. Everyone else was busy. That left her.

She got up from the computers.

"Freezers seem to be malfunctioning — odd power readings," she told the others, tapping her earpiece. "I'll take care of it."

"Don't need your life story, Tosh," came Owen's voice.

Tosh turned off her headset. Trying to shake off Owen's words. And went down to the freezers.

Seo was holding the weevil back, as Buffy finished filling up the food dispenser unit in the cell.

"And then I talked to Angel," Buffy continued. "And he told me about this monastery he went to, in the Himalayas, that was all with the tranquility. So they might know something about where this thing landed."

Seo didn't answer.

"So… uh… yeah," said Buffy, as she finished. "To conclude. Himalayas. Alien spaceship. Super big on the mystery factor." She turned, yanked the weevil out of Seo's grip, and tossed it back into the cell. Then slammed the door.

And crossed her arms.

"And why with the silent treatment?" Buffy asked.

Seo didn't answer.

"I mean, Himalayas, right?" said Buffy. "Yay? Himalayas?" She sighed, shook her head. "Why am I more excited than you? I'm never more excited than you when we go new places. You're always going all with the bubbly personality, while I'm—"

"I love you," Seo said.

Buffy stopped. Stared. A feeling of real worry beginning to spring up inside of her.

"Okay," she demanded. "What's going—?"

But she didn't have time to finish, as Seo grabbed her up, jerked her off her feet, and threw her into the empty cell with the steel door. Threw her hard enough that Buffy crashed to the ground with a thud that shook through her whole body.

"Seo, what…?" Buffy asked, flipping back to her feet, and launching herself towards the door.

Seo slammed it in her face. Locked it.

Buffy tried activating her earpiece. Found it wasn't working. Looked up at Seo, who was still standing there, in front of the door, looking in at her.

Buffy banged her fists against the door. Kicked it, with all her strength. "Seo!"

Seo looked in at her, a completely unreadable expression on her face.

Then mouthed the word — "Goodbye."

Turned.

And left.

"Seo!" Buffy screamed after her.

"We'll definitely be needing these," said Gwen, taking out two alien guns, and looking down the sights. "Just in case of trouble."

A surge of power rippled through the walls of the Hub, the floors humming beneath their feet.

"What…?" Gwen started.

Then the door swung shut, and clicked locked.

"That shouldn't happen," said Ianto. Noticing the lights still working, around them. "No lockdown initiated."

Gwen activated her earpiece. "Tosh? Owen? Buffy? What's going on?"

No answer.

Ianto and Gwen exchanged worried glances.

"Looks like trouble came early," Ianto said.

Gwen shoved her shoulder against the door. It didn't give. Tried again, harder. Still, nothing. Then tried shooting the door with her gun. Still, nothing from the door.

The floor hummed a little more.

And Gwen and Ianto realized. Something was very, very wrong. And they were trapped right where they couldn't stop it.

Owen felt the sudden hum of power around him, too. Looked up, and found the door suddenly snapping shut, locking in place.

And behind it, Seo. Looking in at him, through the transparent super-plastic of the medical bay area.

He stared at her. His heart beating a little too fast.

The way she looked, in that moment, staring in at him, was just… so… alien. As if every shred of humanity had been burned away from her, and she was left with nothing that they could even comprehend.

She rested her hand against the super-plastic. An impassiveness in her eyes. Determination running through her.

"Goodbye," she said.

Then she turned.

And walked back into the Hub. Straight towards the rift manipulator.

Owen sprung for the door. Tried to open it, but couldn't. Tried to activate his earpiece, but it wasn't working. Tried forcing his way out, but couldn't even manage that!

She'd planned this, Owen realized. Planned this out perfectly. Right from the beginning.

And they'd been such idiots to believe she was at all like them. At all human.

Goodbye.

As Owen watched her mess around with the rift manipulator, use it to channel waves of golden, shimmering energy down into the Hub, pulsing across the walls and floors, reverberating through the air, he knew. Exactly what Seo was up to.

She was ending the world.

"Hello?" Tosh called, her hand against her ear. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

No answer.

As the waves of energy seemed to ripple through the floor. Across the walls. As lights blinked on and off, and a powerful feeling of energy grew in the air.

Tosh took the earpiece off. Examined it. Whatever these power fluctuation buildups were, they weren't affecting most of the rest of the power to the Hub. The lights, a little. But not that much. No, what it seemed to be mainly doing… was jamming the phones.

No, not… all phones. Not all communications systems.

Just the wireless signal.

Tosh grabbed up her headset, and then raced to the intercom wires, that were installed nearby. Connecting every section of the Hub to every other section of the Hub. She fumbled with the two devices, fiddling about with them, so she could hook them up. Connect them together.

A crackle. Then… success!

"Gwen?" said Tosh. "Ianto? Owen? Buffy? If you can hear me, wire your headsets into the intercom system. So we can talk."

She then described, very simply, exactly how to do it.

Another crackle, then Gwen's voice. "Tosh? We're in the armory. Locked in."

"We're all bloody locked in," came Owen's voice. "It's Seo. She's flipped. I can see her, right now. She's rewiring the rift manipulator. She's making all of this happen."

"Can she hear us?" asked Ianto.

"Oh, she can hear every word," said Owen. "I don't think she cares. We're out of the way, and that's good enough for her."

"Where's Buffy?" Gwen asked.

Silence.

"Buffy!" Gwen shouted. "Buffy! Are you there? Answer!"

Still, silence.

Something deep down inside of Tosh froze. Because the only reason Buffy wouldn't be answering… is if she couldn't. If she was dead.

And she was the only one strong enough to have a hope of stopping Seo.

"Seo wouldn't," Ianto insisted. "Buffy's… her mum."

"I think you're all forgetting," snapped Owen, "she's an alien. She doesn't think like us. Doesn't act like us. Doesn't see the world the same way we do. Just because she's clever enough to act human doesn't mean she's going to fight on our side every step of the way."

"But she'd never—" Tosh started.

"Look, lovely as this chat is," Owen interrupted, "would you all bloody shut up and figure out how to stop her, already? Because if you don't… we're all going to be just as dead as Buffy."

"I'm here!" Buffy shouted. She hit her hand against the wall of the cell, irritated. "Can't you hear me?! I'm in here! I'm still alive!"

Damn.

They didn't.

No, looked like she was the only one locked up somewhere that didn't have intercom connectivity. The only reason she could hear anything, at all, was because the sound was echoing in through the patches where she'd managed to slightly dislodge the door.

Slightly.

Buffy launched another flip-kick at the door. And again. And again!

What the hell was Seo thinking, locking her in here?! Didn't Seo realize that, without Buffy around to calm the others down, she was going to get shot?! Didn't Seo realize that…?!

A sudden wave of terror ran through Buffy.

As she remembered what Alison had said.

And the last things Seo had told her, before throwing her in here.

I love you.

Goodbye.

"Oh, no," said Buffy, throwing herself at the door, even harder. "No, no, no! You can't do this! I won't let this happen!"

One day, Alison had said, Seo would save the world. And Torchwood would shoot her for it.

And that day… was today.