Chapter Two: Kidnapped
Dawn Summers was mad, spitting mad. As she walked home from the Bronze she was oblivious to her surroundings, as she fumed over what had just happened. For the first time she had an idea of how Buffy had felt when she had been dumped by Angel or Riley or... In fact come to think of it Buffy had been dumped a good few times. Well if Michael thinks he'll be happy with Lizzy he's in for a big disappointment she thought. Serve him right too.
It was probably because so much time had passed without any trace of vampire or demonic activity in Sunnydale that Dawn was so careless of her personal safety after dark. The result was nearly fatal because it was only at the last moment that she became aware of the figure quickly coming up behind her.
As Dawn turned, the vampire changed into vamp face. Although this would have scared most people witless, for an experienced potential slayer like Dawn it had the opposite effect. The instant Dawn saw that she was up against a vampire her mind cleared of all distractions and she knew what to do.
Expecting an easy kill the vampire was taken by surprise by the throw that Dawn executed on him. He was even more surprised to find that his intended victim was not running away screaming when he quickly bounced back to his feet.
The vampire had no chance to stop and think as Dawn immediately followed up with a head kick. She then threw a small bottle of holy water onto the vampire which broke and caused him to scream and stagger back with his chest steaming.
"I thought even idiot vampires like you knew better than to try to feed in the slayer's town," said Dawn who now stood holding a wooden stake in her right hand and a large crucifix in her left.
The vampire, who had been about to rush forward, stopped, suddenly thoughtful. He had heard about the vampire slayer and thought it to be no more than a bad joke. Now he wasn't so sure. As he hesitated Tara, with Willow in her arms arrived silently by orb behind him having been alerted by Dawn's pocket alarm.
"Freeze!" commanded Willow and the vampire and Dawn both froze. Willow immediately went over to Dawn and released her.
"Well there you are," said Dawn. "One vampire all ready for processing."
"Now you can put your plan into action," said Tara to Willow.
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"All done," said Kennedy as she walked into the main living room at Slayer HQ Sunnydale, formerly known as Castle Buffy. "I even swept up the dust afterwards."
"Good," replied Willow. "Hopefully we're back to a vampire free Sunnydale."
"Why didn't you want me in on the interrogation of the vamp?" asked Kennedy. "I know a few ways to make one of them talk."
"No need," replied Willow. "Anyway I didn't want you to get to know him, know him as a person. It's easier to stake an anonymous vampire. It becomes more difficult once you start to know the person he used to be."
"You don't know me very well do you," said Kennedy. "Wouldn't have made a difference to me. I've never had any trouble staking vamps."
"Maybe not," said Willow. "But I don't want to take any chances. I've seen it happen. Once you get to know somebody, however evil they've been or still are you start making excuses to yourself about why you shouldn't stake them yet."
"Oh," said Dawn. "You're talking about..."
"Moving swiftly along," said Willow. "We need to give all this information about vampire activity in LA to Cordy and Angel."
"I've got to pop over and see Cordy," said Tara. "I'll take it with me."
The vampire had been questioned under the influence of magic. Willow and Tara's project was to capture vampires whenever possible and before destroying them question them about where they came from and how they became vampires.
The vampire who turned a human being into another vampire was called the sire. The intention was to track back each vampire like a disease infection with a view to eliminating any other vampires connected to him including the sire.
The vampire just destroyed had been turned into a vampire in LA about six months before. The information would be turned over to Cordelia and Angel who would try to track down all of the contacts in their area and add the information they obtained to the accumulating vampire database as well as destroy any other vampires they found.
"Did you have to dust him?" asked Dawn. "Couldn't you give him a soul like you did for Angel, Darla and Drusilla?"
"Not really," explained Willow. "There's only a limited supply of Orbs of Thesulah so I need to keep the ones I have for special occasions."
"It has to be special occasions only Dawn," advised Tara. "Vampires with souls can still feed and some of them would. We've been lucky so far with the souled vampires but it would be very risky to overdo it."
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"They're not all like Giles and Wesley are they?" said Faith to Buffy as the two slayers walked through LA International Airport. They had arrived from England shortly before and had a few hours to kill before their connection to Sunnydale.
"I couldn't understand half of what that guy Stevens was saying most of the time," replied Buffy. "Where did he come from?"
"Somewhere 'Oop North' I think," said Faith. "I think they all talk like that where he comes from. I don't think even Giles understood him when he really got excited."
"Giles would have been happier if he'd been talking in ancient Greek or Sumerian or something like that," said Buffy. "Hello."
The last comment was given to a young man who had walked towards them and stopped in front of them. He was a little over six foot tall and immaculately dressed in an expensive business suit. He was carrying a clipboard which he glanced at before directing his attention to Buffy.
"Miss Summers, Miss Buffy Summers?" asked the man.
"That would be me," said Buffy.
"If you'll come with me please," said the man who turned away and strode off the way he had come.
Buffy made to follow him but was pulled up short when Faith grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?" hissed Faith.
"He said..." began Buffy.
"I know what he said," replied Faith. "But who is he? If he wants to talk to us he can explain himself. Didn't your mother tell you not to go off with strange men?" Faith stopped and smiled as she looked at Buffy and remembered Buffy's previous relationships. She rolled her eyes. "Stupid question."
"Shut up," said Buffy who then immediately added in a much quieter voice with barely a movement of her lips, "We're being watched."
By now the man had realised that nobody was following him. He turned back towards Buffy and Faith as the two slayers tried not to be obvious about trying to spot whoever was watching them.
"Didn't you hear..." began the man in a very officious tone. Faith however gave him no chance to continue.
"And just who the hell are you?" she demanded in a loud voice. "Just what are you up to? What do you want?"
The man now looked embarrassed. "I, I'm Eric Saward. I work for Homeland Security. We need..."
"I suppose you have ID?" continued Faith aggressively.
The man fumbled his ID out of his pocket and showed it to the two women in front of him. They both made a show of examining it carefully whilst continuing to look around them but it might just as well have been a membership card for the Mickey Mouse Club for all it meant to them. They knew about Homeland Security of course but had no idea if the ID was genuine.
"We're meeting somebody," said Buffy. "We don't have the time. Give me a card and I'll be in touch."
"This is a matter of National Security," said Saward. "I must insist."
"You go," said Faith to Buffy whilst pulling out her cellphone. "I'll wait for you here. I've got a few calls to make anyway."
Buffy realised that Faith was up to something and decided to go along so she nodded and turned back to the Security agent.
"OK," she said. "Lead on, but this better not take long."
As Buffy walked away, following the agent, Faith completed her quick telephone conversation, put the cellphone away and followed along behind. All the time she had been on the phone Faith had scanned the area. She had successfully identified two watchers, two more suited men, both of whom had followed after Buffy and the agent.
Faith was pretty sure that there were no other watchers looking at her. For some reason everybody seemed interested in Buffy, nobody seemed to be interested in her. Nothing new there thought Faith sourly. Faith concluded that somebody or somebodies had a file on Buffy and maybe knew she was the Slayer. They didn't seem to have a file on Faith so they had ignored her.
As Faith followed along behind the watchers she saw them joined by two other men coming from the other direction. Buffy and the agent had now gone through a door into a private part of the building. As soon as they did so the followers quickly closed in.
There was a uniformed security guard on the door through which Buffy and the agent had passed. The two leading followers now showed that they were not on the same team as the Homeland Security agent as they quickly and efficiently knocked out the guard and carried his body through the door. The other two followers now took post to guard the door and prevent anybody unwelcome from following their colleagues.
Inside the door Buffy had followed agent Saward along a corridor and into an interview room. As she entered the room a buzzer sounded from her pocket.
"What's that?" asked Saward.
"Just my cellphone," replied Buffy who knew it was nothing of the sort. It was a head's up alarm from Faith. "Just a moment," she added and went to stand behind the door.
"What are you..." began Saward who was interrupted in what he was saying by two men coming into the room with guns in their hands.
Buffy moved quickly. She came up behind the second man and took him out with a punch. He fell to the floor unconscious. The first man turned only to be tackled by Saward from behind. Saward grabbed the gun hand and pointed it up towards the ceiling. Before this struggle could go any further Buffy stepped in and knocked out the other stranger.
Faith entered the room in a rush, cellphone in hand. "You got them, good, let's go," she said. "I got the other two but there may be more on the way. Our uh transport will be here in a minute."
"You can't leave," said Saward. "It isn't safe."
That's why we're leaving," said Buffy. As she said this she grabbed Saward and pushed him out the door. "If you're really Homeland Security you'll know where to find me," she added as she shut the door.
A very puzzled agent Saward now found himself standing alone in the corridor outside the interview room. After a few minutes he began to wonder what was going on. They said they were leaving but they're staying in that room he thought. What are they doing? Saward waited a few more minutes, tentatively tried the door and cautiously opened it. He looked inside and then walked into the room. The two strangers were still lying unconscious on the floor but the two women had disappeared.
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Dawn looked up from her book as an orb appeared in the main living room of Slayer HQ Sunnydale. It was Tara and she was alone. "I thought you were going to pick up Buffy and Faith," asked Dawn.
"I was," replied Tara. "But they weren't there. I need to speak to Willow and Kennedy."
Tara went to fetch Willow and Kennedy and when they were all gathered in the room with Dawn she explained what had happened at the Airport. Faith had explained to Tara by cellphone that she and Buffy needed an emergency pick up. However when Tara arrived at the designated point there was no trace of either slayer, just two men lying on the floor of the room.
"I know they were in that room," said Tara. "Because I keyed into the amulets they wear like I usually do. But when I orbed in they were gone, and they weren't nearby. They went somewhere suddenly but I don't know where. I can't locate them now."
"Maybe somebody else orbed them away?" suggested Dawn. "Another Whitelighter?"
"I thought of that," said Tara. "I checked and nobody else was in the area. Anyway I think I'd have known if there were any other Whitelighters nearby and I should still be able to locate them."
"I remember something about Darklighters," said Willow sounding worried. "Could they be involved?"
Tara shrugged. "I simply don't know, I hope not. Whatever happened it happened very quickly. I know they were there just before I arrived."
"What about those men on the floor?" asked Kennedy.
Tara looked a little guilty. "They were just unconscious so I left them that way. I uh, went through their pockets," she said and brought out two wallets and two sets of plastic cards. Kennedy immediately started to go through the wallets and cards.
"There were guns lying on the floor but I left them alone," said Tara.
"NID agents," said Kennedy. "That's a branch of National Security if I remember right."
"If the ID's are genuine," said Dawn.
"I'll start researching," said Willow taking the documents and cards from Kennedy.
"Me too," said Dawn.
At that moment Xander let himself in through the front door. He was accompanied by Anya and Amy.
"OK guys," said Xander. "We've got problems."
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"Has anybody seen Phoebe?" asked Piper as she approached the table where her sisters Prue and Paige were sitting. It was evening in P4, Piper's recently renamed club. Piper had in fact soon regretted the renaming in view of the long line of jokers asking if they had seen her P4 and similar remarks and was planning to change it again.
Both Prue and Paige shook their heads. "Were you expecting her?" asked Prue. "She's probably at home."
"On a Friday night!" scoffed Paige. "This is Phoebe we're talking about. She's probably got a date."
"I suppose," said Piper. "It's just that I wanted to talk to her about Leo's party next week."
"Don't worry," said Prue. "I'll make sure she doesn't forget to get him a present this time."
"Shhhh," said Paige nodding towards the approaching Leo. "Talk of the devil, or the angel, or whatever."
Leo kissed his wife on the cheek in greeting. As he did so he whispered loudly enough for all three sisters to hear. "Those two at the bar, at the end."
"The big guy in black and the blonde on his arm?" asked Prue. "What about them?"
"Vampires," said Leo. "They're probably here looking for their next meal."
"Not in my club they're not!" said Piper starting forward.
"Wait a minute," said Paige leaping up and grabbing Piper's arm to stop her going over to the vampires. "That blonde, don't you recognise her? That's Darla."
"You're right," said Leo. "I didn't look at her face."
Piper gave Leo a disapproving raised eyebrow look.
"I mean I was looking at her general demeanour," said Leo. "Um, that's to say..."
"We get the message Leo," said Paige. "Quit while you're ahead."
"Isn't she one of the good guys now?" asked Piper.
"Unless things have changed again," said Prue standing up. "Let's go talk to her."
It turned out that Darla had come to speak to the Charmed Ones and had met the other vampire Lucien outside, on his way into the club.
"Lucien here's a new vampire," said Darla. "He thought he'd be able to find somebody tasty to eat in a place like this."
Lucien looked at the faces of the women around him, all of whom seemed to know what a vampire was but none of whom seemed to be frightened of him. Suddenly he realised that he was in big trouble and made a dash for the rear exit.
Darla followed closely behind and pulled a stake out of her purse as she followed the other vampire into the alley outside. For a moment it looked as if the vampire would escape but he suddenly dissolved into dust as Darla's thrown stake hit him from behind.
Darla walked back to the rear exit from where the sisters and Leo had observed the staking. "Thanks for that," said Darla. "I've been trying to get him to go outside with me for the past ten minutes."
"So why did you want to see us?" asked Prue.
"Is there somewhere private we can talk?" replied Darla.
Piper had handed over to her duty manager and then joined her sisters, Leo and Darla in the back room of P4. Darla explained that she was passing on a message from Drusilla who had learned about an inter-world portal operated by the US military called the Stargate.
"And how did she learn this?" asked Piper.
"She's got second sight," replied Darla. "She's always had it, even before she became a vampire. It's a little clearer now she's not insane anymore but it usually only gives her a little bit of the picture."
"Tell us about it," said Paige. "It usually works that way for Phoebe as well. It's as if the guys in charge up there don't want to make it too easy for us."
"Let's hear what Darla has to say," said Prue. "Hopefully she'll get around to telling us how we're involved." Hopefully she really is still one of the good guys thought Prue. But I'm not going to trust her any more than I have to. Killing that other vampire was a mighty convenient way of stopping us being suspicious.
Darla explained how Drusilla had foreseen the Charmed Sisters fighting small metal creatures coming out of the Stargate portal, creatures that could destroy the world if unchecked.
"Even if broken up they put themselves together again," said Darla. "Dru says you have to turn them to dust otherwise you're just wasting your time. She says you guys will hear more about all this tomorrow when Phoebe contacts you, so be ready to move at a moment's notice," explained Darla.
"Phoebe!" asked Piper. "Where is Phoebe and is she alright?"
"Yes, she's alright," said Darla. "At least she'll be with you when you fight these things."
None of the sisters thought it a good ideal to just wait for Phoebe to call so they returned to the Halliwell Manor with Darla while Leo orbed away to try to find Phoebe. Shortly after the arrival of the women at the Manor Leo returned.
"So where is she Leo?" asked Paige.
"She's on a plane headed east," said Leo. "A military plane. She's asleep but she's OK. I couldn't pick her up without revealing myself and things didn't look desperate enough for me to risk that."
The sisters and Leo discussed what to do and decided not to attempt to retrieve Phoebe straightaway because from what Darla said Phoebe would be with them soon anyway and whatever Phoebe was doing might be necessary in order to find out more about what was going to happen.
"But I don't think we should just sit here doing nothing," said Prue. "We should be able to use our magic to find out exactly where that Stargate portal is."
By using a series of scrying spells and using as many maps as they could find the sisters were able to narrow down likely portal sites to only four. The strongest reading was one in Colorado, which was in fact exactly in the direction that Phoebe seemed to be going.
"Colorado Springs," said Leo looking at the map. "That's where the big military base at Cheyenne Mountain is. I bet that's where they've got this portal. They'll have maximum security on something like that. They'll have it way down in the lower levels."