Chapter 19: Possibilities

Buffy, Dawn and Clay slept in the forest until dawn, and then dressed and headed out before morning hikers and joggers intruded on their domain. They found a tiny bistro near Yonge and had breakfast on the front patio. After they had finished eating the sisters leaned back in their chairs, and closed their eyes.

"You two look happy," Clay said suddenly.

"I am," Dawn and Buffy said, not opening their eyes.

They got back to the apartment after nine. It was late for work for either Buffy or Dawn so they both called out sick. As they headed up the elevator, Clay told them how some street punks had tried to steal his car on a trip to New York City last winter. By the time they got to the apartment, both sisters were laughing so hard they nearly fell inside as they walked into the apartment.

"Seriously?" Dawn said as she closed the door.

Clay laughed and nodded.

The next day Buffy and Dawn were coming home from work together for a change and that had been why Clay had not been with them or so they thought. As Dawn swung open the apartment door, it struck something and bounced back toward them. She pushed it again. It opened a few inches, and then stopped. Buffy helped her to push the door open. Looking down, Dawn saw a leg stretched across the floor. She squeezed through the narrow opening, nearly tripping over the leg in her haste to get inside.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled as Buffy squeezed through the door and looked down. It was the apartment manager, Philip. But what had he been doing in their apartment? They looked down and saw a pool of blood at his side, dripping from his mouth, smeared in a bloody trail across the carpet. Dawn dropped to his side and started going through the motions for basic first aid. Conscious? No. Breathing? Yes. Pulse? Neither strong nor weak. Dawn pulled back his shirt, her fingers grazed across his side and slipped into a gaping wound. She pulled her hand back and stared at bloodied fingers.

Buffy frowned as the evidence mounted. Clay was not there. Philip had a key, but he would have knocked. He wouldn't have barged in unannounced. And since both of them had been at work that left only one conclusion.

Clay.

Dawn looked at Buffy who nodded in understanding. Buffy ran to the phone, lifted it, and dialed 911. It took a few seconds for Buffy to realize she wasn't hearing anything on the other end. She jammed the plunger up and down and dialed again. Still nothing. She looked down. The phone cord had been cut. "Dawn is your cell phone charged?" Buffy asked.

"Why?" Dawn asked.

"The phone cord's been cut," Buffy said.

"I think it should be," Dawn said as she pulled her cell phone out of her purse and handed it to Buffy.

Buffy punched in 911, then told the operator that she and her sister had found their apartment manager wounded and unconscious, that they'd come home to find him like that and had no idea how badly he was hurt or how it had happened. The operator took the address and promised an ambulance.

Buffy turned off the phone ran to the closet, grabbed a sheet, and ripped it into strips. Then she and Dawn bound Philip's side. Dawn bent down to smell Philip. The scent that wafted up from his clothes wasn't Clay's, but it was someone she knew, someone whose smell registered without a moment of surprise. Thomas LeBlanc.

"What?" Buffy asked seeing the reaction on Dawn's face.

"LeBlanc," said Dawn. "He found us." She checked Philip's breathing and pulse again. Still the same. She leaned over him, braced his neck with one hand, and lifted him to check for any hidden wounds. As Dawn shifted herself upward to kneel, she caught a glimpse of something under the hall table. A hypodermic needle. "Buffy."

Buffy followed Dawn's gaze. "Leave it. We'll tell the cops. Don't touch anything we don't want to contaminate any more than we have to."

"Problem Buffy this is a 'w' problem. The cops can't handle it," Dawn said.

"I know," Buffy said. "But once we called an ambulance, we no longer had a choice. The cops will investigate. Whether they find LeBlanc is another story."

Just then Buffy saw a ring on the end table. She recognized the gold band instantly; it was Clay's wedding band. Beneath it was a sheet of torn paper with a scribbled note. For a brief second, Buffy had thought Clay had taken off his ring, that he'd come up here before LeBlanc had arrived, removed the ring, written the note, then left. She looked at the note and realized the writing wasn't Clay's.

Buffy picked up the ring. "Clay's ring." She then picked up the note and read it.

Dawn and Buffy,

Big Bear Motor Lodge. Rm. 211. Tomorrow. 10 A.M.

—D.

A sick feeling settled in Buffy's gut. "Dawn," she said. "Don't pick up the syringe, but see if you can tell whose scent is on it."

Dawn nodded and leaned in and frowned as she sniffed. "Daniel."

"Can you tell what is in it without?" Buffy asked.

Dawn nodded as she leaned in and picked up a strong medicinal smell. "It's not poison. It's medicinal but I can't place it."

Buffy sighed and nodded. "I think Clay's ring and the note are a sign. Clay is still alive. Their using him as bait."

"Oh, Goddess," Dawn whispered.

A thought came to Buffy as she looked at the syringe. "They drugged Clay. That's how they got him away without a fight."

Dawn nodded as she stood up to move Philip who was still blocking the way.

"I'm sorry," Dawn whispered. "Very, very sorry." She bent to move him out of the way. As she touched him, his eyes flew open and his hand clasped around her wrist.

"Dawn?" he said, looking around in confusion, eyes not focusing.

"You're okay," Buffy said. "I've called an ambulance."

"There was a man … Two men …"

"We know. You're hurt but you'll be okay. An ambulance is coming," Buffy said.

"They said they were friends of your cousin. So, I showed them to your door. I knocked your cousin answered. There was some fighting."

Buffy and Dawn realized that was how Philip wound up in their apartment.

"We know," Buffy said. "Wait here. We're going down to wait for the ambulance."

His eyes blazed with fever and pain. A pang of anguish went through the sisters.

"Ten o'clock. We have to be there by ten o'clock," Dawn whispered to Buffy as panic flooded through her.

Buffy could see what was happening to her sister. She hurried her sister to the balcony and closed the door behind her. She helped down to disrobe quickly as Dawn's fear induced Change took her. She then proceeded to disrobe as well as she ran back through the apartment for a duffle bag. She stuffed their clothes in it and then ran back to the balcony. She found Dawn gone as she initiated her own Change. The moment she was a wolf Buffy vaulted up and over the railing as she chased after her sister. She tore around the building and into the underground parking garage and out the other side. She caught up to Dawn at the outskirts of Toronto and soon they had left Toronto behind.

Hours later they arrived at an obstacle: the Niagara Falls border crossing. Thanks to a stroke of luck they managed to hide in the back of a truck as it crossed the border. Once it was safe, they jumped off the back hit the curb hard and rolled into a ditch. Both sisters' stomachs growled, reminding them they'd missed lunch and dinner. Neither of them slowed down, it was apparent to Buffy that the fear reflex was still in full control of her sister.

It must have been nearly midnight when a thunderous roar in their heads sent Buffy and Dawn pitching forward into the grass. "Dawn! Buffy!" The boom in their heads took on a voice and words. Jeremy. "Dawn! Buffy! Where are you?! Where are you two? I can't contact Clay! Where the hell are you two?"

"Jeremy, New York, somewhere in New York," Buffy thought hoping that Jeremy would pick up on her thoughts as she and Dawn continued to run and soon. Eventually they blacked out from both exhaustion and hunger.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy and Dawn woke to the sensation of cold. As they shivered, they felt wet grass beneath their bare skin. They had Changed sometime during the night. Something warm and soft fell around their shoulders; they instantly recognized them as jackets. Both sisters felt hands slipping under them to lift them up.

"Dawn? Buffy?"

A face bent over Dawn's. Jeremy.

A face bent over Buffy's. Nick.

"Dawn? Buffy?" Jeremy said.

Both sisters tried to move, but it hurt too much.

"H—" Dawn croaked, wanting to ask how they'd got there. "H—" Nothing more would come.

"Don't try to talk," Jeremy said. "Either of you. And don't try to move. I'm going to carry you, Dawn, to the Explorer. It's right over there. Nick, you carry Buffy."

Nick held up a bag. "Buffy was always the thoughtful one. She had a bag of their clothes."

"We'll dress them in the car," Jeremy said.

"C—Cl— T—te—o'cl," Buffy said and then everything went dark for both sisters again.

The next time Buffy and Dawn woke it was to warmth, artificial heat blowing across their faces.

"Is that too hot?" Nick said.

"Are they awake?" Jeremy asked from the front seat.

"I'm not sure," Nick said. "Their eyes are closed. You can probably turn down the heat. They got their color back."

The click of a dial. The harsh blowing fell to a quiet drone. Dawn opened one eye, then the other.

"Dawn's awake," Nick said as Buffy opened her eyes. "So is Buffy."

A seat belt clicked open. Then the whir of denim on the cloth seats. Nick bent first over Buffy and then Dawn.

"Is it warm enough?" he asked. "Can I get you two anything?"

"T—ti—" Dawn said.

"Don't talk, Dawn," Jeremy said. "You too Buffy. Grab the water bottle from the cooler, Nick. They're both dehydrated. Let them sip it, but not too much."

Nick rummaged around in the cooler. Then a cold plastic straw touched Buffy's lips. She pulled back and gave a small shake of her head that sent lightning bolts through her skull. He tried Dawn next with the same result.

"Ti—" Buffy croaked. "Ti—me. Wha—ti—me."

"What time?" Nick lowered his face to Buffy's. "What time is it?"

Buffy nodded.

Nick still looked confused, but he checked his watch. "Eleven-twenty … almost eleven-thirty."

"No!" Dawn shot upright. "No!"

The Explorer swerved and Antonio swore, and then yanked the steering wheel back on track.

"Dawn." Jeremy's voice came from the front seat, calm and firm. "It's okay, Dawn. Calm her down, Nick, before she gives your father a heart attack."

"She just surprised me," Antonio said. "Nicky, make sure—"

"Je—" Buffy said. "Cl—Me—Ten."

Jeremy tried to puzzle through what Buffy said.

Nick grabbed the seat belt fastener away from Dawn, but she already had it open and was squirming out of the restraining strap, Nick grabbed her shoulders."

"No!" Dawn shouted and flung his hands off.

Nick grabbed Dawn again.

"Stop the car," Dawn shouted.

The Explorer slowed to half speed, but no more, as if Antonio was deciding what to do.

"Keep going," Jeremy said. "They're delirious. Keep going."

Hours later Buffy and Dawn woke, every part of their bodies ached. They knew they were lying next to each other in the cage. "No," Dawn whispered. "No."

They saw that Jeremy was sitting in a chair.

"No," Dawn whispered again, sitting up. "Damn you, no."

"I had to, Dawn. Buffy," Jeremy said. "I was afraid you two would hurt yourselves. Now, if you're feeling better—"

Dawn threw herself at the bars. Jeremy stepped out of arm's reach.

"Let us out of here!" Dawn shouted as Buffy got up beside her.

"Dawn, Buffy, if you both would—" Jeremy started.

"You don't understand!" Buffy shouted.

Jeremy sighed. "Yes, I do. Daniel has Clay. He took him in Toronto. He wanted you two to show up at the hotel at ten today. You two were talking in your sleep on the way back."

"You—" Dawn stopped and swallowed. "You know?"

Jeremy nodded. "Yes, I—"

"You know and you're keeping us in here? How could you?!" Dawn took Buffy's hand and tried to teleport out. But the Change, the long run, and the dehydration had drained her magical energies. Till they replenished she had no access to her magic.

"You knew Clay's life was in danger and you put us in here?" Buffy asked furiously.

"What do you two think Daniel planned to do? Take you two and let Clay go? Of course not. If you two went there, we'd lose all three of you," Jeremy said.

"We don't care!" Buffy said.

Jeremy rubbed a hand over his face. "You do care, Buffy and so do you Dawn. You two are just too upset to think about this logically—"

"Logically?" Dawn said. "Logically? Are you really that cold? You raised him. You mean the world to him. He's spent his life protecting you. He's risked his life protecting you, risks it constantly for you. You'd sit back, logically assess the situation and decide it's not worth the gamble to save him?"

"Dawn—" Jeremy said.

"If he's dead, it's your fault," Dawn said as Buffy nodded in agreement.

"Dawn!" Jeremy repeated.

"It's our fault. If he's dead because we didn't get there on time—" Dawn said.

"Dawn has a …" Buffy started to say as Jeremy grabbed their arms, fingers cutting to the bone.

"Stop it, both of you! He's not dead. I know you two are upset, but if you'd calm down—"

"Calm down? Are you saying we're hysterical?" Buffy asked.

"—calm down and think about it, you two will know Clay isn't dead. Think about it. Daniel knows how important Clayton is to the Pack. To you, Dawn. To me. He's too valuable as a hostage."

"But Daniel doesn't know why we didn't show up," Buffy said. "Maybe he thinks we don't care, that we've abandoned Clay, given him up for dead."

"Daniel would know better. To be sure, I've sent him a note. Last week he gave me a post office box to contact him through. Antonio and Nick dropped off a letter saying that we weren't letting you two make that appointment, but that I'm willing to negotiate so long as Clay's not harmed. I'm sure Daniel already knows that, but I wanted to make it clear. I'm not taking any chances with Clay's life."

"You didn't warn us," Dawn said.

Jeremy crouched down. "I didn't warn you two about what, sweetheart?" he asked softly.

"We didn't think. We should have known," Dawn said.

"Known what?" Jeremy asked.

Buffy realized where Dawn was going and nodded as she glared at Jeremy. "That he was in danger, too. He was looking after us. But we weren't looking after him."

Hours later after Jeremy had left them. Dawn's mystical energy supply replenished. She teleported her and Buffy upstairs to their room. When Jeremy had found them he locked the sisters in the room knowing it was foolish to do so. He knew that Dawn could get out no matter where he put them. But he figured if they had wanted to escape they would have teleported farther away than their room upstairs. He left them in there all morning, stopping by periodically to make sure they hadn't disappeared again. When he came up with their lunch, he brought a letter-size manila envelope. Before giving the sisters the food tray, he wordlessly passed them the envelope.

Inside was a Polaroid shot of Clay. He was sitting on the floor, knees pulled up, feet bound together, and arms behind him. Judging by his position his hands must have been tied or manacled. His eyes were half closed and so clouded by drugs they looked gray instead of blue. As the sisters looked at the picture they were sure Clay was in a cage.

The sisters looked up at Jeremy. They could tell that he was worried, deeply worried.

"Where's the letter?" Dawn asked, more gently than she'd intended. "I know Daniel must have sent a letter. Can I see it?"

"It says they have Clay, which is obvious, and that he's not in great shape, but he's alive, both equally obvious," Jeremy said. "If you check the background of the photo, you'll see a newspaper hanging on the wall. It's today's New York Times, presumably to prove the picture was taken today."

"What does Daniel want?" Buffy asked.

"Clay's in no immediate danger," Jeremy said.

"Are you going to give us a direct answer to any of our questions?" Buffy asked.

Jeremy continued, ignoring Buffy's question. "I've sent a note back. I'm demanding daily pictures while we negotiate."

Dawn scowled and stomped to the other side of the room.

"We know we lost it yesterday," Buffy said. "But we're fine now. We want to help. Can we come out?"

"Eat your lunch," Jeremy ordered. "I'll be back in a while to see if you both are still hungry."

"Jeremy," Buffy said. "You know that our asking is out of courtesy. We could get out anytime. Even go after Clay ourselves and you couldn't stop us."

Jeremy sighed and nodded. "I know. Just please wait." He handed them the tray and went out the door locking it behind him again.