Rebuilding
Ch 26 – Looking for Dawn
Giles pulled into the parking lot of the Sunny Days Mall and Shopping Center and Buffybot was out of the car nearly before he'd stopped. As he struggled to get his belt off, he called out to her, but she either didn't hear him through the closed windows or simply chose to ignore him.
When he did catch up to her, she was accosting one of the underpaid security guards just inside the main doors.
"Don't tell me I cannot enter! My sister is missing and I am going to locate her, you illogical, little man."
"Buffy! Let's not antagonize everyone, shall we? Hello," he turned to the man whose name tag read 'WILLIAMS'. "Uh, Mr. Williams… we're family of the missing youngster. Surely there's someone we can speak to…."
Todd Williams looked down his nose at the foreign sounding guy with his mouth in a slim line. He'd been given very clear instructions… no one was to leave without talking to a detective and no one was to enter… period. He'd already had to throw out a parasitic reporter when she'd tried to barrel through him and he sure wasn't afraid to throw out the Brit and the twig-girl either.
"No one enters," he said in a flat voice which he perceived as professional sounding. "Police are securing the area and they don't want evidence tampered with."
That last part sounded just like something he'd see on CSI and he felt proud for ad-libbing it off the top of his head. He loved that show.
"W-well, perhaps you could explain to an officer that we're here?"
"This is stupid! With my audio-visual sensors I have a far better chance of tracking my sister down than these humans," Buffybot exclaimed, ignoring the look on the guard's face.
Giles grabbed the robot's arm and dragged her out of the mall, apologizing to the guard for the trouble. He told him that he understood his job. He continued to pull the robot along around the side of the mall building, her protesting but not resisting.
"Why are you interrupting my attempts to track Dawn," she asked once he'd stopped.
"Must I remind you that you are supposed to be human? You cannot go around talking about your 'audio-visual' anything and never refer to yourself as having sensors!"
"I'm sorry, Giles. I am just concerned with Dawn's disappearance. But I know that my Watcher will have a plan of action to implement," she grinned.
"Y-yes, well… I believe you should find an alternate way in. There must be a loading dock entrance. But you must remain undiscovered. And I wish you to find evidence of Dawn's circumstance surrounding her disappearance and then report directly back to me. You are not to antagonize the police in there! If you see Rick Stein, perhaps he can help you but all other officers are to be avoided if possible. Do you understand?"
"My instructions are very clear," she nodded her head with that inappropriate grin. "My Watcher's plan of action is always best! I will proceed as you've outlined, Giles."
With this the robot immediately sprinted away for the rear of the mall while Giles could only sigh. He had a bad feeling about both Dawn's absence and the Buffy robot's ability not to attract attention, whatever she may have agreed to.
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In Dawn's bedroom, surrounding a map of Sunnydale kneeled Tara and Willow. Their hands were clasped together and they were sprinkling red grains of sand across the map. While Willow was impatiently staring at it, Tara was focusing on her breathing and attempting to get in sync with her partner.
"Willow… you're not focusing," she said, opening her eyes.
"I'm trying! But… damn it, I have other things to do right now," she sounded angry.
"Will… Dawn is in danger. We need to focus on her right now. I know you're upset about Buffy, but we can't let that distract us from Dawn right now."
"You think I don't know that!?"
Tara flinched at the tone of her girlfriend's voice, but went on determinedly. "Okay, let's just try this again. Focus on Dawn," she said while re-closing her eyes.
"Oh, for Goddess' sake! I know how to cast a locator spell," Willow complained.
Tara was about to say something she'd regret when she suddenly felt Willow's aura come into contact with hers. A moment later and she could tell that the spell was beginning to take affect. Opening her eyes again, she found the grains of sand glowing like little white balls of light as they raced together to merge into a tiny pile on their map.
"Hmmm… looks like the northwest of town. How did she get so far from the mall?"
"That's the area where Dracula was hanging out," Willow said thoughtfully. "I think she may be at Burnside's, that castle-looking place."
"I remember it. You call Xan and I'll get a hold of Giles," Tara said as she regained her feet and headed for the door.
"We really need to get that place tore down," Willow muttered as she dialed up Xan's cell.
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Dawn gasped as she saw two more vampire women dragging Spike into the room. One of the women was vaguely familiar to her and she thought maybe she was one of the missing moms that the gang was investigating. The women manhandled Spike to another wall and began to put heavy manacles on his wrists, like the ones that bound her. His eyes were open, but he seemed in some sort of trance.
"Spike! Spike? Are you okay," she called across the room.
"He can't answer," one of the women said. "He's been paralyzed and his brain is probably feeling a bit fuzzy. But don't worry; he'll come around before the fun times begin."
"It looks like sleeping beauty is still out of it," the other woman said. "How long did it take for us to wake up, you think?"
"I'm sure she'll be up and around by tomorrow night."
A third vampire woman entered then and Dawn was positive she remembered her from the news. She had been Tammy Montgomery and she'd disappeared with her husband and son. Dawn was pretty sure she'd met the kid already… he was dust now, not that the mother seemed overly concerned about it. The father may or may not have been one of the bodies that had been found in the woods.
"I don't see our Sire around," Tammy said. "She must be out hunting."
"Well, we've secured what she wanted. And since he's paralyzed and the brat isn't strong enough to escape, I think we can go out for a bite to eat, too," Rachel said.
Gladys smiled at Dawn as the women began filing out of the room. "It's too bad we can't eat you… I bet that young, hot blood is really pumping about now." She laughed as she followed the others out.
"Actually, it isn't," Dawn said, when she was sure they were gone. "The gang will get here anytime now and we've faced down a god. I'm thinking you're all already dust and just don't know it, yet."
She called out to Spike again, telling him not to worry, the rescue party was probably already closing in. He didn't respond.
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In the deep darkness under Sunnydale, Xander traveled hesitantly in the darkness, following a trail that only Hyena-Xan seemed to detect. He was largely dependent on the mosses that grew from the earthen walls and shed minute amounts of phosphorescent glow. The world under these conditions was leached of color and everything had an odd slightly greenish cast to it. In some places, he had to rely on an old lighter he'd picked up off the ground. This was only a quarter filled with fluid, but it was better than stumbling through total darkness, though he was trying hard not to waste it.
"I didn't realize I'd be able to see this good in such low light," Xander said.
You wouldn't if it wasn't for me. If you'd stop being so focused on your eyes, you'd probably detect the slight odor of Dawn and her traveling companion, too. At least slightly, anyway. And you don't need to talk out loud… just think at me.
"You're creepy."
And you're too soft. We wouldn't be in the situation if you'd taken care of Dawn in the first place. And we'd have a warrior in the pack instead of a nuisance.
"No one misses Buffy more than I do. But sacrificing Dawn was never going to happen."
Poor planning. You can't keep the pack strong and hard if you don't learn to drive off the weak.Giles would have done it.
"I don't want to believe that. And besides, you weren't exactly grieving while the rest of us were falling apart. I thought you'd be happy to have the Slayer out of your way. Doesn't this bring you one step closer to ruling the group?"
Buffy was very brave. Turn left here… the scent is starting to get stronger. I wanted her out of my rightful position and would have killed her in a challenge if I'd needed to. But I was more hopeful that we could have outmaneuvered her instead. It would have been ideal if she'd have submitted to us as the leadership and fallen into line, instead.
"And, Giles? Just how far would you go?"
Giles is old and ripe for being overthrown. It isn't always necessary to kill in order to usurp and hold. The important thing is the pack's over-all health and preparedness. Killing is a tool, but it isn't the only one.
I don't want to talk about this anymore, Xander thought hard at her.
Too damned soft, she thought-muttered back.
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"Xander's cell is 'out of service', goddamnit," Willow said as she met Tara at the front door.
"Maybe he found something at the site."
"Not the point! I specifically told him not to wander into those caverns," she sighed harshly. "If no one is going to listen to me, we're never going to get anywhere."
I don't remember you being put in charge of all of us, Tara thought, but didn't say. She knew that Willow was under an enormous amount of stress and didn't want to add to it by mentioning she was acting a little Hilter-ish right now.
Instead she said, "We can argue later. Let's get going."
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"Come on… come on…," Giles chanted in the back lot of the mall. He was waiting to collect the Buffybot so that they could make their way to the, sort of appropriate, abandoned bed and breakfast. After all, one vampire had already found it homey.
He sat on the curb of the parking lot and tried to will the robot to return. He closed his eyes for a moment, the stress and fear over what was happening to Dawn momentarily eclipsing him. He couldn't lose her; not after Buffy's sacrifice for her. He couldn't fail his Slayer this way.
When he opened his eyes, it wasn't Rupert Giles who gazed at the mall's empty shipping dock, however. Ripper stood up and gave a last half-hearted look for the Buffy robot.
"Eh, screw it," he said into the night air. In Turkish he added, "I need a drink."
Ripper wandered away from the time wasting robot-in-the-mall and headed for the nearest pub.
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End Chapter 26