Even though several sections of the walls were mere sheetrock, it was clear this was the heart of the renovations. Each of the rooms Tara had passed was clear of trash and the outward signs of a bomb blast. The wavering candlelight from the votives Giles and Willow carried illuminated large buckets of paint and piles of drywall.
"Oh, wow!" Willow's exclamation was shockingly loud. "This so beats the old library." She disappeared into another room, taking her tiny circle of light with her. "Laptop, phone, all-in-one. Did you know you can fax, copy, scan and print with just one machine?
Something, maybe the faint stiffening of Giles' body, alerted Tara. She glanced at him and caught his grimace as they all filed into the room and began unloading their supplies. "Willow, I distinctly remember we had each of those things in the library. And, I might add, the further resources provided by my vast collection of materials on the supernatural."
Willow didn't immediately respond. She was hurriedly disconnecting the laptop from several cords and cables on the desk and storing it in a drawer. "Giles, there was no laptop. You allowed one – one – computer, and it was so old it was made out of stone." Raising her head, she grinned at him, teeth glimmering in the candlelight. "And…did you even know what an all-in-one was before I explained it?"
From the lack of response (and Giles' increasingly fierce glower), Tara thought she knew the answer. "W-Willow?" Despite enjoying the banter and the continued glimpse into Scooby life, Tara decided she should try to get them all back on track. "C-Can you see if the Profes-sor left information about E-Ethan in her files? If not…" Well, if not, things would definitely get a lot more frightening.
"Why don't we just ask Walsh?" Faith winked when Tara looked at her in confusion. "Don't get me wrong, watching Red do her thing is hot, but we had plans for tonight. Maybe we ain't gotta waste time. If the info's there, Walsh can tell us where to find it – or just give us what we need to know."
"Do you plan to threaten me again?" Professor Walsh joined the conversation with a disdainful laugh.
Only Faith seemed prepared to say anything. "Nah. Threats don't do much good, ya' know?" Stepping closer to Walsh, she smiled. "I'm all about gettin' the job done."
That smile… Tara shivered. If demons saw that smile when they encountered Faith, a stake was probably the least of their worries.
"You're a Slayer. You can't hurt a human." Apparently, Walsh wasn't completely convinced of her own argument; she leaned as far away from Faith as the bonds holding her to the chair would allow. "If you want information, you'll have to get it yourself."
"Kinda what I'm planning." Faith's smile hadn't diminished. "See, all that crap about not hurting humans? That works for Buffy. I'm not so up on the rules and sometimes…" One of her hands dropped to Walsh's shoulder. "Sometimes shit happens."
Tara was appalled at Faith's not-so-veiled threats and at the complete lack of reaction from the rest of the gang. "Faith," she said – at exactly the same time as Willow. Breaking off, she waited. If anyone could keep this from happening, it was Willow. Right?
Personal laptop now hooked up, Willow hunched industriously over the keyboard. "Stop playing with the professor. I may have fantasized about turning you loose on her after a few of her lectures, but that doesn't mean I want you to pull her arms off." She frowned and typed for a minute. "We'll save that for later if I can't find what we need."
"Red," Faith protested, "why waste time? Walsh knows what we need to take Ethan down." Tara noticed her hand was still on Walsh's shoulder and she hadn't moved away from the professor.
"Oh, do sit down, Faith." Exchanging one stack of paperwork for another, Giles glared across the room. "There is real work to be done, and no matter how much you like to play the rebel, we simply do not have the time. Come make yourself useful and help Tara and I look for answers."
Oops. Tara jumped nearly as much as Faith at the bite in his tone. Busy watching the tableau, Tara hadn't been doing anything useful, either. Recalled to duty, however, she quickly found a chair (and more paperwork) and began to read. The information hadn't changed. It was technical and boring. It also didn't help Tara formulate a plan to beat Ethan.
She kept reading, though.
They really were running out of time. She couldn't feel Ethan right now. Tara didn't expect that to last. With his power, Ethan would find them quickly, and somehow they had to be ready. "W-Willow, have you found anyth-thing about the chip?" Technology certainly sounded like a better solution than a magical showdown.
"Not yet. The stuff I printed was only research notes. I'm going deeper this time." Willow raised her head, the light from the screen washing her features in blue.
"I don't think you got to look at anything the Colonel wrote down," Buffy said. Tara turned to see her stride into the room. "He wasn't in on Walsh's big plan to make me a Buffybot."
The sound of Willow typing cut off abruptly. "What?"
"I thought I told you. Sorry." Tara smiled at Buffy's completely overdone hangdog expression. "It's been a busy night, Will. I must have forgotten."
Keeping her "Sorry Face" on until she saw Willow sigh and shake her head, Buffy continued into the room and dropped into a chair next to Tara. "When I was eavesdropping on Walsh back at the lab, she told him she had a source bringing her new host to the party. Me. The Colonel looked like she'd stolen his favorite uniform."
"The bad guys always keep secrets," Faith mumbled around a mouthful of food. Popcorn, Buffy realized when she spotted the bag sitting next to Faith on the couch across the room. "You'd know that, B, if you read more comic books."
The hint of a smirk on Faith's face clued Buffy in. Faith was waiting. Waiting for Buffy to go off on cartoons and not get back to business.
Buffy decided to break the mold rather than explode at Faith's needling like she usually did. Settling back in the chair, she idly reached out and picked up some of the computer printouts covering the surface. "Yeah, you might be right. What's the comic of the week?" Racking her brain, Buffy tried to remember what Faith watched. "Batman?"
It was the right choice. Faith's eyes widened and her smirk disappeared. "Uh, yeah. Me and X-man…" She caught herself. Clearing her throat, Faith grabbed more popcorn from the bag before offering the snack to Buffy. "Anyway, all them secrets make the bad guys turn on each other."
"How about it, Colonel?" Buffy didn't actually believe he'd tell them anything. Still, Faith's idea had merit, and any information was good.
True to form, though, Englemann merely glared at her.
Maybe he'd change his mind when Ethan showed up and started tossing fireballs or lightning bolts. Buffy sighed. "Guess the comic book theory doesn't work so well in real life, Faith. Too bad. That leaves us with Willow's printouts and Tara's magic." Pretending not to see Tara's blush – or her terrified expression – she went on. "What's the what with Ethan, Will? Can you shut him off?"
"I should be able to," Willow said, raising Buffy's hopes. Then, with a grimace, she cruelly smashed them. "If I could find a way into the chip's programming. I can't. I can't even find the program. It's not in any of the research files on the project. I've got notes on demon experiments and the guy on the exam table. I even figured out why Ethan spiked all that beer. I just can't do anything to keep him from coming after us!"
The note of despair in Willow's voice reminded Buffy of other research sessions, most notably the ones leading to graduation. Perfect. Once again, they had to find a way to save the world with no clue how.
"Mr. G-Giles, why don't you and I talk ab-about Ethan and let Wil-Willow work on the computer?" Tara interrupted Buffy's thoughts. "You know him b-better than anyone…"
Giles was going to object. He always avoided magical discussions. Buffy made sure that wasn't an option this time. "Good plan, Tara. You and Giles get with the magic talk. Will'll be Computer Girl. Me and Faith will start work on getting ready for a fight." A soft cough alerted Buffy she'd left one member of the team off the roster. "And Mom can keep an eye on the Professor and Englemann."
Hopping up, Buffy didn't give anyone a chance to object. Tara's comment about Ethan had reminded her that they were on borrowed time. They needed a plan. More than one, if Tara was right about not being able to beat Ethan magically.
"What are you thinkin', B?" Faith, minus the now-empty popcorn bag, joined Buffy at the table.
"Grab some weapons." Buffy took her own words to heart and grabbed the duffel bag off the rolling cart. "It's not just Ethan we have to worry about. Riley and his goons are out there, too. We can't assume Ethan's going to show up alone when he finds us. Tara and Will have to be ready with the magic. We'll have to be ready for the gun-toting commandos.
Faith gave Buffy a long look. "You think so?" Her usual cocky smile was absent. "We got lucky on campus, B. They show up again, it ain't gonna be so simple."
"I know." Or Buffy thought she did. Guns were a new threat, but she watched a lot of television. "That's why we're headed for the other room for a Slayer Strategy Session. If we stay here, we'll make Giles and Willow mad."
Throat clearing rang out behind them. "Excuse me?" Willow asked pointedly.
"Just like that," Buffy announced with a sunny smile and a wave for her friend – who tried unsuccessfully to hide a grin. "We'll be back, guys. Yell if the Professor gets too chatty." Looping the duffel over her shoulder for the second time that night, Buffy strode from the room with Faith hard on her heels.
The second construction office was smaller. That wasn't a problem. Bypassing the desk, Buffy unloaded her gear by the small table tucked into a corner next to a whiteboard. "Let's hear it, Faith." Not willing to take the lead in the discussion, Buffy shifted the burden of command. "I have zero experience with this type of thing. Demons, vampires, and the odd crazy co-ed, yes. Soldiers, no."
"You got about as much as me, B. The only guns I ever dealt with belonged to the gangs in Southie," Faith said quietly. "And I didn't mess with 'em." She hovered near the table before walking to the whiteboard and picking up the eraser. "Shoulda called Xan. He's the soldier guy."
Warmth crawled up Buffy's cheeks. "Yeah, I guess." Calling Xander hadn't even crossed Buffy's mind. Xander hadn't been around a lot since graduation. The blush grew hotter. And she hadn't gone out of her way to visit him, either. If they managed to get out of this fight alive, she'd have to do something about that if she wanted to keep Xander's friendship. "It's too late now. Riley probably has someone watching Xan's parents' place. We'll have to figure this out on our own."
Faith nodded and began erasing the writing on the board. "First thing, then, is how're we gonna keep an eye out for Walsh's goons? And what are we gonna do when they get here?"
Good questions. Staring at the clean board, Buffy struggled to find good answers. "We could patrol. Except…I'm sure they won't all come in one group. If we miss one, they'd be all over the rest of the gang." She fell silent for a minute. Snyder had been a crazy control freak. And he'd seemed to know everything that happened at the school, no matter when or where it took place. "We need to take a field trip, Faith."
"Can't," Faith said immediately. "Red don't like it when I leave her behind, and we ain't got any picnic food."
Buffy stiffened before she glimpsed Faith's smirk. "Bitch." Taking a couple of stakes and daggers from the duffel bag, she stood. "I think I know how we can keep an eye on things as long as the main office didn't go boom with the rest of the school."