Title: Something Vamped This Way Comes (parts 7, 8, 9/I'm not sure yet)
Author: cghardy
Rating: PG (V, L)
Summary: The counts keep adding up as Mac becomes broken, more is discovered and a safe house is no longer safe.
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI NY or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
His silence continued to the building that Buffy was driving them to. Stella looked over at him at different times to see a blank face, a stoic face. She worried about all the things happening to him. Aiden, Clay, Drew, and all the worry with Reed have pushed him back. She saw him taking tentative steps forward when he was dating Peyton. Then she ended the relationship with a Dear John letter and he stepped right back. Why were you the only one, Claire? The only one that could pull him out of these times.
Getting to the building hadn't been a major challenge. They watched for Sinclair and anyone that worked closely with him. They showed their badges to the person that answered the door and opened it wider to let them in. A young male walked into the living room holding steaming mugs of tea. He turned and saw them standing in the hallway. "Sorry about Heav, she doesn't talk much. Who are you here for? The girls are out and..."
"Reed Garrett, we need to talk to him," Stella interrupted. Mac stood beside her, not reacting with anything. Okay, this is just starting to scare me.
"I'm guessing he's Mac," he pointed out. Mac still didn't react.
"Yes, that's Mac." They followed him into a room. A TV was on, but silenced. Reed was in an armchair across from it. His laptop was open and he was typing furiously. "Reed," she whispered, settling a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and closed his laptop.
He looked over to Mac, who hadn't said a word. "Mac. Mac? Earth to Mac." He waved a hand in front of his face. "What's wrong with Mac?"
"I think you broke him about Sinclair," Stella started, "Also, we need to talk about that."
"What I heard, who he was with, normal things." Stella nodded. "All right, Sinclair told them to they had to work with the Cabbie Killer and DJ Pratt. The killer was killed off too early by Buffy. They said they needed someone else. Sinclair said he wanted you guys taken out. One of the guys said they needed another one of his problems. Bedford, who is he?"
"Younger brother of an old friend. He thought I was a coward and used Stella to get to me," Mac revealed. Both Stella and Reed looked at him. "Sorry, it's taken me awhile."
"Did you recognize either of the people Sinclair was with?"
Reed shook his head. "I wasn't able to get into all of the records that we had on vampires and donors that there are in the area. From what I could get to, I couldn't find any matches," Sammie added.
"All right, how well is this place protected?"
"No vampire or demon can come in. It's our responsibility to not let the others in. Everyone here's been warned about Sinclair and the only police they trust are you guys and others we've friended. There are a few other safe houses and they've been warned."
"Reed, call every half hour and if you remember anything." Mac got up to leave when his phone started going off. "Taylor." After a minute, he shut the phone off. "Someone broke into his apartment. Nothing was taken and it looks like they were ready to take him. Neighbors report it was two people."
"Who's the closest to cover it?" Sammie asked. They both looked at him. "They may have cursed the place if they didn't find him."
"Danny's been called to cover the scene. He's going with Faith and Willow."
"Stella, we need to get back to the lab. Sinclair's been suspicious about both of us being out."
"Yeah, I'll take Danny's spot and try to find out if we know any of these guys."
"I look into Sinclair's handlings. If there's a legitimate way to get him out, he won't be able to keep his job. He'll be cut off from helping."
Stella looked back at Reed. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be confined until you find these guys, but I'll be fine."
"You're not going out for the job, right?"
"I told my boss that I'm under protective custody and cannot go out. He fired me, said this was my last blog."
"You can also find another job," Mac commented.
"None were as good as this one, though."
Danny stood in front of the apartment, waiting for Faith and Willow to finish inspecting. Willow had cast a detecting spell and spotted some type of spell. She was trying to narrow down the type of spell. "All right, how long is this going to take?" he asked.
"The spell check's going to take another ten minutes," Willow reported.
"All right, I'm going to cover the front door and anything outside." He picked up his kit and walked outside, leaving the door open. Faith went over and closed it, standing by it for any signs.
"Is that seriously going to take ten more minutes?" she asked.
"Yes, it's very complicated. Someone's been setting traps, like tracking a hacker."
"Making sure you couldn't render it safe."
"Possibly, or it may not be a harmful spell."
"What type of spell isn't harmful but still has traps?"
"I don't know. I have no idea the type of game they're playing."
-=-=-=-=-
"Lindsay, what do you got for me to do?" Stella asked, walking in the area.
"I'm still taking blood samples. I'm hoping for a stray DNA sample that I can test."
"Where have you been?"
"I'm still in the front."
"All right, back it is." Stella grabbed a handful of swabs and pulled herself into the back. After twenty minutes of collecting several more blood samples, they were finally done. Lindsay was packing hers in the cart. Stella brought hers out just as Sinclair was walking in. "Chief Sinclair, what can I do for you?"
"Taylor has been avoiding me for the last five hours. I want updates on the escapees."
"Detective Taylor has been working diligently to find the escapees. I'm sure he's not avoiding you; just not able to call at this time."
"Where can I find Detective Taylor?"
"Last I knew; he was in the AV lab checking on a security tape from the prison."
"Thank you." Leaving, he was already on his cell.
"Mac avoiding Sinclair? What's going on, Stella?" Lindsay asked as Sinclair was walking out of the room.
"Something very bad, Lindsay."
-=-=-=-=-
"Adam, what do you have on the phone?" Mac asked as soon as he walked in.
"The photos do not have a time stamp. And they were done on a camera. Not a camera phone, a camera. This was sent by a computer disguised as a cell phone. I have been running a trace and found that it was sent by a computer at an internet café. I will be waiting for the computer to come back on and I will trace it."
"All right, what about the security tape?"
"The hour during which someone would have come in and changed John Doe was erased."
"Inside?"
"The system was closed and the only way to get to the tapes is in the guard's center. It would have to be inside."
"Sinclair could have asked as a favor. Knock out the cameras so he could have Doe turned."
"Maybe he was also behind DJ Pratt getting out."
"Tape was also erased?" Adam nodded. "And we can't check now. Let's see if Flack can't get up to the prison with a couple of the girls and stay there to watch over him."
-=-=-=-=-
"Got it! It's a transport spell," Willow informed.
"Transport to where?" Faith asked.
"No idea, but I know it's linked for Reed and Reed only. We step in; it won't set off."
"Can you disable the spell?"
"Yep, then Danny can process." Willow started bringing out implements while Faith went to look for Danny.
Danny was processing a nearby grocery store that captured video of the assailants running away from the building. He also had snacks. "Investigating the ingredient lists? There's something criminal in those things," Faith joked.
"Not more criminal than the carts around the city. Flack never ate at those things again after finding cart central." He started eating when he started walking out. "Willow's done with the spell?"
"Transport spell directed to Reed only. Willow is now disabling the spell."
"Finally, we can figure out more people in the plan."
Andy and Jason went back to high school. Andy was the reporter covering the sports and the school's leading star, Jason Stoshion. Jason was going to Chelsea on a scholarship. Andy also went, and met Reed Garrett. Andy didn't like Reed, both competing for jobs on the paper while sharing a dorm room. Reed also made Jason mad at an article about a performance at a game. They bonded over the resulting attempts on Reed's life. Jason needed something or someone to take out frustration on. Andy gave him the idea and slipped out at several times and let Jason do whatever he wanted on Reed.
Now, Andy had taken Reed's blog. Jase was working with Sinclair. Both had been approached to help out. How could they refuse when it had to do with Reed?
-=-=-=-=-
"This should be easy. All the slayers are out. Only one in there is the witch and him. Other slayer went out for a bite," Jase summed, grabbing a gun and checking the magazine.
"No shooting. Sinclair wants him alive for DJ."
"Got it. Grab the cell also; we'll call Taylor on it."
"Don't want to look up the phone number?" Andy leered, earning a slap upside the head.
"It will be more meaningful if it comes from his cell." Jase gathered the handcuffs and the tape. "And I don't want to look for the number." He started walking up to the front door.
"We're going through the front door?"
"You want to try and disable their spells for security and protection?" Andy shook his head. "We need to be let in."
"We're not vampires."
"To the house, anyone that isn't recognized is an enemy, and is destroyed." After that, he knocked several times to arouse one of them.
"Let me in front, I can convince the guy. Hide yourself." He took out an envelope. He knocked again after a minute when he didn't hear anything.
Sammie was the one that opened the door. "Can I help you at two-thirty in the morning?"
"Yeah, boss wanted Reed's paycheck delivered to him. I volunteered."
Who the hell is this guy and how does he know Reed? Wait, how does he know Reed's here? "I'm sorry, Reed?"
"Reed Garrett, I heard he was here."
"Sorry, no Reed Garrett." He went to shut the door when Jase crashed through, holding a gun. Shooting twice, one hit the back wall while the other embedded into his right shoulder. "Jason Stoshion, I should have known."
"Yeah, and you didn't. Stay down and don't say anything. Otherwise, I'll put another bullet in a place that spells can't help." Sammie just glared at him as both went by. As they went by, he pulled out his cell phone and started to dial.
Reed was in the kitchen, waiting for the guys to go past. He had been getting a glass of water when he heard the shots. He felt the phone in his pocket, but didn't want to chance the phone going off and alerting them. Hearing feet on the floor above, he quickly went to grab Sammie and get out. He saw the blood coming out of the shoulder and winced, but kept moving as footsteps got nearer. "Where do we go?"
"There's a nurse at another safe house. It's in Queens though, we'll need a cab." He held the phone while Reed supported him and helped him out of the house. "Listen, we have two humans that have broken into the Manhattan safe house. I'm injured, someone's in danger. We need a slayer." He was about to continue when another shot ran out and hit him in the leg. "Keep going Reed. Now!" He dropped himself on the sidewalk and start whispering latin.
Reed had a moment of indecision that Jase used to run up and tackle him to the ground. "Fi…" His shout was cut short as Jase placed a rag in his mouth. He struggled against him as Jase threw him into the back of the car that Andy had pulled aside.
He couldn't get to the handcuffs that he had brought, so he used the seatbelt in the back, wrapping Reed's wrists and stretching it to also wrap around the headrest of the passenger seat. He brought out a syringe and a small vial of liquid. "Keep moving kid, you won't be for very long." He held the head still while he injected the liquid in his neck. Movement became lethargic as Reed succumbed to the sedative.
Review please.
And if any one has ideas for pranks, could you please send me a PM. I'm having a time trying to come up with three more. (Two for Pranking Wars and One for Wrong Victim). Please and Thank You.