Disclaimers, etc., in chapter 1

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"Okay," Oliver said as he, Clark, Xander and Riley took seats in the loft in Clark's barn. "First things first. Xander, Riley, I can completely and totally vouch for Clark. He has my complete trust."

"Complete?" Xander asked.

"Yes," Ollie said. "He knows about my other little hobby as well."

Xander relaxed. "Well, thank God. This was going to be really awkward if I had to lie about that the whole time."

"So what is going on here? Really?" Clark asked.

Xander glanced at Riley, who nodded at him once.

"The first thing you need to know is that this is not how we wanted this to go down. I was hoping to befriend you guys, get to know you a little better and then ask you for a huge favor. Unfortunately, our hand was forced last night."

"When your friend was attacked," Clark said.

"Attacked and abducted," Xander said, nodding. "Yes. And we retrieved her. After a quick consult with Riley, we decided to push up the time table."

"So who are you, really?" Clark asked.

"The group I work for is a charity," Xander said. "But not exclusively. Not even primarily, actually. Our main goal is to protect the world from demons, and the evil that they bring."

"Demons," Clark said. The disbelief was evident in his voice.

"I know, it sounds crazy," said Xander. "But this is what we do. Vampires, demons, succubae, incubi, zombies and…" he shook his head. "All the classics."

"Werewolves?" Clark asked with a laugh.

"When they can't be reasoned with," said Riley.

"Ollie, I don't know what you've got yourself mixed up in here," Clark said, "but I don't want any part of it."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Ollie said. "Agent Finn?"

"Last night, the young woman on your kitchen table was attacked," Riley said. "Her name is Dawn Summers, and she works for CWI. She was attacked by elements within the Army, elements that are heavily influenced by Lex Luthor."

"Lex?" Clark asked, leaning forward. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Patty!" Xander called out. A moment later, a pretty young woman jumped in through the window of the loft. Clark looked surprised.

"There are a couple thousand girls worldwide who can do that and a lot more," Xander said. He nodded to Patty, and she did a back flip back out of the barn. Clark leaned out the window and saw her land gracefully on her feet, then run back out into the field faster than she should have been able to.

"We represent, train, house, teach and employ about four-fifths of those girls," Xander continued. "And Luthor wants in on the action, but not to train them."

"We have intelligence that Lex Luthor was running a program in Metropolis that was known by the codename 33.1," said Riley. "We have intelligence that he was, and still is, actively looking for girls like this to experiment on, to dissect, to see how they work."

"As you can imagine, that's not something these guys want to have happen," said Ollie. "Nor do I. And I don't think you'd be too happy about it either."

"I've distrusted Lex for some time now," Clark said. "I used to consider him one of my closest friends, but he's slipped farther and farther into the darkness. I think he may be beyond help. What's so special about these girls?"

"They're magic," Xander said. "Or, at least that's basically the source of their powers. They are hunters. They hunt demons, they track down evil and destroy it. And we help them."

"This is pretty far-fetched," Clark said.

"Come on, Clark. You've lived in this town," said Ollie. "You've seen the meteor freaks. Chloe has been chasing after them for years. Is this really that much harder to believe?"

"Yeah, but demons? Vampires? I mean…"

"I've killed some of them," Ollie said. "With Xander, with Lucy, and their friends. I've been there, Clark. I've seen it. It's real."

"So what does this all have to do with me?" Clark asked.

"Well, first off, it's your house, and I feel we owe you an explanation," Xander said. "And second of all, Ollie has told us that you're close… or at least used to be close with Luthor. We're hoping to get some insight into –"

"Xander!"

Xander sighed and leaned out the window and looked down at one of the Slayers. "Yes?"

"We've stopped a young woman at the top of the drive way, name of Chloe Sullivan."

Xander glanced at Oliver, who nodded.

"Let her in," Xander said. He glanced over to see if Clark was offended that he was making decisions about who could and could not come on to the property.

"How many people do you have out there?" Clark asked, seeming more curious than angry.

"Sixteen," Xander said.

Ollie and Riley whistled. "Wow."

"Wow?" Clark asked. "This is a pretty big farm, that's not that many."

Ollie shook his head. "Clark, you haven't seen these girls in action. For hundreds of years –"

"Thousands," Xander corrected.

"Right, thousands of years, there was only one of these girls at a time charged with keeping the world safe from the forces of evil. Having sixteen active Slayers in an area this small is tantamount to…"

"Invading Delaware with the whole US Army," said Riley.

"Right," said Ollie. "Along those lines. Right at this moment, you're probably in the safest place in America."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he said. "If Ollie's willing to vouch for you, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. You've got my attention. So tell me what you want."

"Ollie says you have some experience with Luthor and his projects. 33.1 in particular," Xander said. "We would ask you for any information you could give us on that."

"Okay," Clark said. "Although Chloe's actually the one to talk to there."

Xander looked at Ollie, who nodded.

"And the second thing we need," Riley said, "is your telephone."

* * * * *

"So how long have you known Oliver Queen?" Lois asked.

"Who?" Buffy asked. "Me or Lucy?"

"What the hell, let's go for both of you."

"I've known him for about a year," Buffy said. "Although I think Xander's known him for almost two."

"I've known him for about three months," Lucy said. "Xander introduced me at a dinner in Rome."

"Oh, that was a fun night," Buffy said, smiling. "Your dress was so amazing."

The door opened and Chloe walked in. "What the hell is going on outside?" she asked. She looked at Mel, who was chanting something in Latin, her hand resting softly on Dawn's chest. "Who the hell is this?"

"Over here, Coz," Lois said, waving Chloe over to them.

"There are scary young women outside who are not letting people onto the farm, did you know that?" Chloe asked, pointing. "And there's an unconscious woman on Clark's table. Where is Clark? Where's Xander? What's going on?" She paused, and looked at Buffy. "And who are you?"

"Xander, Clark, Oliver Queen and a guy named Riley Finn are out in the barn," Lucy told her. "And this is Buffy. One of Xander's best friends."

"Hi," Buffy said, waving at Chloe.

"Her sister Dawn is the unconscious girl. And Mel is a witch, who's trying to get Dawn out of whatever it is that's keeping her unconscious."

"A witch?" Chloe asked.

"See," said Buffy, "everybody's minds are so closed these days."

At that point, the boys walked back into the house.

"Chloe," Clark said, smiling at his best friend. "Ollie's got a couple of requests for you."

"Sure," she said. "Whatever. What's going on?"

"Just a minute," Clark said. He picked up the phone and handed it to Riley.

"Thanks," Riley said. He dialed a number and waited. "Hi, Carol. Is the general in?"

"General?" Lois asked Lucy.

Lucy shrugged. "First I've heard of it. Buffy?"

Buffy held up her finger. "In a minute."

"He's in a meeting, I see," Riley said. "Well do me a favor. Get a note to him and tell him that Riley Finn is on the phone. Thanks."

Riley stood there, bobbing his head for a moment before explaining, "I'm on hold."

For a few more minutes everyone stood around waiting, watching Riley. Xander took a look at Dawn again, then sat on the arm of the sofa next to Lucy. He took her hand in his.

"General, hello. I thought you might want to speak to me," Riley said eventually. "I assume by now that you've traced this call and you know where I am, but I'm going to spell it out for you. I am standing in the kitchen of the Kent farm, in Smallville, Kansas. I am here with three very senior members of the Council of Watchers, one of whom is unconscious, and in a magical coma because of the actions of your soldiers, sir."

"More than that, I am standing in this kitchen, sir, and I would like to tell you that in the next room are your daughters, Lois and Lucy, and your niece Chloe." Riley said.

The three girls looked up sharply at that. Lucy looked quickly from Riley to Xander. Xander's face was like stone. Lucy looked from him to Buffy, who was watching Xander and frowning.

"No, sir," Riley said. "We do not intend any harm to come to your family, but sir, we needed to get your attention. Your soldiers have been at odds with these people for some time now, sir, and we feel that it is time to talk. We'll be here until you are."

Riley hung up. "Okay," he said, "well, that's one career on the line tonight."

The room was silent.

Xander looked down at Lucy and saw confusion. He saw pain, and he saw anger. "Sweetheart," he said quietly. "We should probably talk."

Lucy stared at him for a minute, then stormed out of the room, and headed for the barn. Xander followed her.

"So… what?" Lois asked once they'd left. "Are we your prisoners?"

"Not in the least," said Buffy. "You're welcome to leave whenever you want. We needed you here long enough to talk to your dad. That's all."

"Why him?" Clark asked. "Why General Lane?"

"Because he's the one," Oliver said. "Lex Luthor went to the military with requests for specimens for 33.1, and he showed them information that indicated that Xander's group was a terrorist group, and convinced them that if he could just get his hands on a few of these girls, then he could make soldiers for the Army like none they had ever seen."

"But we're not," Buffy said. "We're not terrorists. And if he got his hands on some of our girls, the only thing he'd get would be confused scientists, because the thing that makes us different is not biological, it's mystical. And he would be dissecting young women for no reason other than to sate his own curiosity."

"What's so special about you?" Lois asked.

"It's nothing I can show you easily," said Buffy. "But I'm stronger and faster than anyone you've ever met."

"I don't know," Lois said. "Ollie's pretty strong, he's pretty fast."

"I am," said Ollie. "But with her, I wouldn't even try to compete."

"So why are Lucy and Xander outside?" asked Chloe. "Wasn't she a part of all of this?"

"Yes and no," Buffy said. "She knows about what we do, she knows about the threat from Luthor. She didn't know that your uncle was in charge of the group Luthor works with."

"Oh," said Chloe.

"There's more," said Buffy to her. "You weren't here for it, but Lucy told Lois about how she and Xander first met."

"The whole story," said Lois.

"Well," said Buffy. "The whole story as she knew it. It actually started well before that."

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End Chapter 6