Chapter Thirty: Good Guy? Bad Guy?
"I'll start the questioning," said Maybourne. "If she co-operates then we won't need to do anything else."
"You think she'll be frightened by your interrogation technique?" asked Lilah. "You didn't do too well the last time did you?"
"I found out what I needed to know," replied Maybourne, brushing aside the reference to his previous interview with Dawn Summers. But inside he was furious. What does she mean by that? I just said I'd spoken to Dawn Summers before. Lilah Morgan's pretty good at giving the impression she knows more than she really does but that was close to home, too close. Does she have sources of information inside the NID? I'll have to look into that when I get back to the office.
"Anyway I'm sure having you in the room looking suitably mean and menacing will make all the difference," said Maybourne. "You might not have to do anything else, just keep practicing that shark like smile you have."
"We'll see," said Lilah following Maybourne into the room.
As Maybourne, followed by Lilah Morgan, walked into the room where Dawn Summers was being held prisoner she looked up from the chair where she was sitting. She looked him straight in the eye. Very good thought Maybourne. Try to make a connection with your interrogator, try to get him to be sympathetic.
Maybourne turned to Lilah. "You know there's no need for you to be here. Dawn and I can have a little chat and sort all this out without any unpleasantness," he said.
"She already knows we're working together," said Lilah smiling. "She knows there's nothing I won't do if I think it's necessary. I'll stay, just in case I'm needed."
"So how much did you get for it?" asked Dawn as she continued to stare at Maybourne.
"Huh?" said Maybourne. "What are you talking about?"
"Your soul, how much did you get for it?" said Dawn. "You better have made a good deal because it's the only one you've got."
"Very funny. Now what..." began Maybourne.
"I'm not being funny, I'm being deadly serious," said Dawn continuing to look Maybourne straight in the eye. "You're working with Wolfram and Hart. That means signing up to go to the hot place down below. It's pretty hot I can tell you. I've been for a visit. You won't like it down there."
"Well little miss know-it-all perhaps you can tell us why you're here," said Lilah. "I'll give you a clue. It's not to sign away your soul."
"Blackmail of course," said Dawn. "From what I hear I'm looking at two experts in blackmail. I expect you intend trying to blackmail my sister to do what you want. It won't do you any good. Buffy always wins. That's just the way things work."
"This has got nothing to do with your sister," said Maybourne. "We need to know everything you know about the woman called Glory and about what happened in Sunnydale three years ago."
"Glory? Glory was a mad woman," said Dawn. "I'm sure Lilah's told you that. She had a crazy tower built by a group of lunatics and odd little demons. I've no idea why. It's all fallen down again. Can I go now?"
"We know all about the Key young lady," said Lilah. "We want to know where it is and how Glory used it to open that portal," she added thus making it perfectly clear that she did not know all about the Key.
"Then I suggest you find Glory," said Dawn. "For all I know she's still got it. Didn't you ask her about it when she turned up again a few months ago?"
Maybourne gave Lilah a puzzled look. She had not mentioned anything about Glory turning up again.
"Yes she turned up again," said Lilah. "But you know full well I never got to see her then. As I recall she was in Sunnydale with you and your friends. Anyway we're wasting our time here. There's a much easier way to do this."
As she finished speaking Lilah went over to the door and opened it. A man entered. He was dark haired, slim, in his mid twenties and tall, about six foot four. He was well dressed and could have passed for one of the Wolfram and Hart lawyers.
"This is Geoffrey," said Lilah. "He works for Wolfram and Hart and he's a vampire."
"A vampire? Are you kidding?" asked Maybourne.
"Oh no, we've got vampires, real vampires on our payroll. The rest of the lawyers just seem like vampires," said Lilah.
"You think he can make her talk?" asked Maybourne. He didn't admit it to himself but the man, the vampire, who hadn't yet said a word somehow made him nervous. Maybourne backed away a little and put his hand where he could quickly draw his gun.
"Doesn't matter," said Lilah. "Geoffrey here is going to sire Dawn. That means he'll arrange things so that she'll die here and now but she'll rise again tomorrow as a vampire. She'll then be quite happy to tell us everything she knows about Glory and the Key. She'll also give you a clean bill of health to your bosses because she'll look and sound exactly like Dawn does now, with all of her memories."
"Don't think this is the first time she's done something like this," said Dawn. "Do any of your NID people keep out of direct sunlight these days? Any security leaks you can't explain?"
Maybourne turned to stare at Lilah, his mind racing. Could they do that to anybody? It would be as bad as Goa'uld possession. Dawn interrupted Maybourne's train of thought before it went any further.
"Sounds like the hot place down below is getting closer and closer Colonel," said Dawn. "This is probably your last chance to remain part of the human race. You stick with Wolfram and Hart and one way or another you won't remain human much longer." She didn't sound the least little bit frightened.
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Half way down the winding staircase leading to the dungeons was a small room leading off an even smaller landing. The room had probably been for the use of the gaolers in years gone by but was now empty, without any furniture. With no source of light it was pitch black, even during the day. In the plans of the Earth women it was due to play a vital part in how they intended to stop Lissie from joining Glory.
The winding, narrow staircase only allowed groups of people to ascend or descend in single file. The original plan was for Paige to be magically disguised as Lissie. She would orb to the small room with Piper before the Goa'uld and his party reached that point on the staircase. The two sisters would wait in the dark until Lissie reached the landing outside the room when Piper would freeze everybody on the staircase. Paige would then orb Lissie and Piper away before orbing back to take Lissie's place.
Everybody had now agreed it was imperative that Glory not see Lissie or even Paige disguised as Lissie. Faith knew that Glory had not recognised Dawn when she came to Sunnydale. This was only comprehensible if she had never met Lissie. If she had recognised Dawn then things would have gone very differently back in Sunnydale. It was of course possible that Glory had simply forgotten Lissie and not realised that Dawn looked exactly like her but nobody wanted to rely on that since the consequences of getting it wrong could be catastrophic.
A change of plan had been hurriedly decided upon. Now Paige did not bother with the disguise before she orbed to the room with Piper. They had decided to snatch Lissie without leaving a substitute. Nobody had been able to think of an alternative plan in the few moments since Ninurta and his party had entered the keep.
"Damned if we do and damned if we don't. We've just got to minimise the damage and hope nothing that happens has a dramatic affect on the future." Prue had said. She realised that whatever they did they were risking the timeline.
Ninurta was right behind Lissie as he followed her down the stairs into the dungeon basement. He was looking right at her when she simply disappeared. One instant she was there and the next she was not.
The Goa'uld nearly missed his step in surprise but quickly recovered himself. Magic! That cursed witch had decided to double cross him. In no time at all the Goa'uld had worked himself up into a towering rage.
Getting control of himself Ninurta continued on down to the basement and along the corridor to the meeting room. It was empty. Well that's no surprise he thought.
"Somebody was here," said Allonon his head Jaffa. "Look!"
Allonon, with two other Jaffa, had preceded the Goa'uld into the room. He was now pointing up at the slowly fading witch light that was still giving illumination although there was no sign of the witch who had lit it.
"She's got what she wanted," said Ninurta. "Much good will it do her. How long will it be before the bomb goes off?"
"Just under an hour," said Allonon.
"Could you trigger it now?" asked Ninurta.
"We can certainly try my lord," replied Allonon. "Or would you prefer that we wait until we know the witch and the girl are together? That was the original plan. The timer is there in case our transmissions are blocked by this witch magic."
"No, stick to the original plan," ordered Ninurta. "If you find out they're together set it off straight away. If not then let the timer do it and we'll hope for the worst. You're sure the girl doesn't know it's inside her?"
"Quite certain my lord," replied Allonon. "We took all the necessary precautions."
"Good, let's get out of here and finish off our other preparations," said Ninurta. "Just in case that witch survives the explosion."
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Maybourne pulled out his gun and pointed it at the vampire. "I didn't agree to any vampire being involved, if that's what he really is," he said.
"Bullets don't stop vampires," said Lilah. "You'll only annoy him. Put your gun away."
The vampire gave a confident grin, clearly not at all scared by the gun and abruptly his face changed to something quite inhuman with long teeth. Suddenly Maybourne had no doubt this was indeed a vampire. He switched his aim to Lilah. "How about lawyers? If that... thing moves any closer to me or her you're dead."
"We're on the same side colonel," said Lilah signalling the vampire to remain where he was. "We have to work together. The vampire can get us the information we need."
"I'm not working with a vampire," said Maybourne. "Is that what she meant by losing my soul? I think if I work with you for much longer I won't have a soul to lose."
"Don't be silly," replied Lilah with a smile. "You're working for National Security. You must have lost your soul a long time ago. You have to use whatever will work. You know that."
"I don't think so," said Maybourne. "And I'm gonna make sure there are no vampires in the NID. I'm taking the girl out of here now. Move away from the door."
"You don't have to worry about infiltration by vampires," said Lilah. "Most of them are too restricted and arrogant to make good undercover agents. Sticking to a nine to five after you've become immortal is just about impossible. But if you want to leave, I'm not going to stop you."
As she spoke Lilah moved towards the other side of the room. At her signal the vampire went with her. "We can still work together you know," she said. "Give me a call. When you're stuck and can't get any further give me a call."
Maybourne took Dawn's arm and led her from the room. Outside the room he put his gun hand in his pocket but kept his grip on the gun. Still with his other hand on Dawn's arm he led her quickly to the nearby staircase.
Pulling Dawn along with him Maybourne rushed down the stairs all the way to the basement car park and then led the way to his car. They saw a couple of men on the stairs and a woman getting out of her car in the basement but nobody challenged them.
They got into Maybourne's car and he started up and drove slowly towards the exit. Still no hue and cry. The barrier was down at the exit but it lifted as Maybourne drove up to it. All the way from the office neither Maybourne nor Dawn had spoken. As he entered the traffic Maybourne broke the silence.
"Look kid, I want to know what you know but I'm not having anything to do with vampires," he said. "Nothing like that. I do work for National Security. That's all I'm concerned with. Help me out here."
"So where exactly do you think you're taking me?" asked Dawn who had still, despite everything, remained very calm.
"We're going to my office," said Maybourne. "You'll be safe there, vampires or no vampires. Don't worry, you won't be harmed, but you will tell me what I need to know. After that you can go back home."
"Not bad," said Dawn. "Seven out of ten I'd say."
"What?" said Maybourne giving Dawn a brief glance before turning his attention back to the road.
"The good guy, bad guy routine. I suppose next you give me a cookie and a cup of coffee, maybe with a little something added, and then I'll tell you everything you want to know," said Dawn.
"How did you get to be this cynical?" asked Maybourne. "You can't honestly believe I agreed to work with that vampire. But I do work for National Security so you should be helping me anyway. We should be on the same side."
"Yes we should shouldn't we?" said Dawn. "National Security! Hah, you guys should try living in Sunnydale for a while, or Sunnydale the way it used to be."
"And how did it used to be?" asked Maybourne.
"Scary," said Dawn. "If we only had vampires to worry about it was a good day. But we took care of most of that. Anyway I don't care if you're still working with Lilah or not. I'm afraid I don't have time for any more games. I'm wanted elsewhere." As she spoke Dawn looked up as if listening to a voice that nobody else could hear.
Before Maybourne could reply Dawn turned into a shower of lights and disappeared completely from the seat by his side. Maybourne would have been dumbfounded but he was becoming used to magical appearances and disappearances. Oh yes, no special powers he thought. Well Miss Lilah Morgan you don't know as much as you think you do.
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Wesley looked around him. The room was dark with just a little light coming in from a window on the other side of the room. He had just woken up and found himself lying fully dressed on an unfamiliar bed. He sat up and tried to gather his thoughts.
He remembered being in the hotel, the Kallistian hotel in their capital city Demantine. They had moved to Eve's room because it had more natural light on that side of the building and that might have been important in the study of the book. Now it looked like he was in another hotel room, a different and much smaller room. Perhaps a different hotel. The general decor didn't look at all like the Kallistian style that he had recently become used to. It looked like, well exactly like a hotel room back on Earth.
Wesley got off the bed and switched on the nearby light. He then made his way over to the window and pulled the curtain. He looked down on a quiet street below. It was late at night, a car passed, and then another, splashing through the driving rain. He was certainly no longer on Kallistien. Was he really back on Earth?
The door behind him opened and he turned to see that Eve had come into the room. By now he had put his thoughts in order. His last memory had been sitting at a table in the Kallistian hotel room opening the Wolfram and Hart book. The only person who had been with him had been Eve who had stood behind him looking at the book over his shoulder.
"Are you alright?" asked Eve.
Wesley ignored the question. "So it was a Wolfram and Hart trap after all," he said. "Where are we and what's going on? What exactly are you up to?"
"I don't know any more than you do," said Eve. "I woke up in the room next door. I called down to the front desk. We're back in LA. I don't know how or why."
"But you did know I was in this room?" asked Wesley sceptically.
"The guy on the phone told me where you were," said Eve. "We were booked into adjoining rooms about eight hours ago."
"By whom?" asked Wesley.
"That's what I asked," replied Eve. "The guy down there doesn't know. He says the guy on during the day might remember."
"And he'll only remember what Wolfram and Hart want him to remember," said Wesley. As he spoke the conviction grew within Wesley that Eve was playing him in some way. She'd probably been up to something all along and he was fed up with it. Abruptly he headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Eve.
"To see a man about a dog," said Wesley as he left the room and slammed the door behind him.
"Huh?" was Eve's response to the empty room.
Wesley went down the stairs all the way to the front entrance. He ignored the man at the front desk and went out into the street. What he needed was a public phone, somewhere he could call Fred or Lorne or even the people left in Sunnydale.
After two blocks Wesley found a phone box. But despite no sign of any vandalism the phone didn't work, it was completely dead. He left the box and for the first time had a good look around him. Perhaps he could find a cab or recognise which part of town it was.
Suddenly Wesley recognised the cafe on the corner. That was only a short walk from where he lived. The shop two doors away from the cafe, that was where he often bought a morning paper and that...
Wait a minute thought Wesley this is crazy. The shop and the cafe were in opposite directions from where he lived. They weren't on the same street. What's going on?
As he stood and wondered Wesley gradually realised that other things were odd as well. Two men who had just walked past him had turned and walked back the way they had come. As he watched they reached the end of the street and once more reversed themselves. They seemed to be devoted to simply marching up and down the same street.
Then he started recognising the passing cars. There was not much traffic so it was quite easy to recognise the same vehicles going round and round the block but getting nowhere. As Wesley continued to look he realised that everybody he could see was in a repetitive routine. The whole place looked something like a large film studio with extras passing back and forth to give the right background, but nobody was really going anywhere.