Chapter 20: Plans

Jeremy let the sisters out later that afternoon. Dawn immediately asked about his plans. He made them both wait until after dinner. While Antonio and Nick cleaned up the dinner mess, Jeremy took Buffy and Dawn into the study for their talk. He told them they weren't allowed to know anything about the plan to get Clay back or allowed to help him carry it out.

"That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" Dawn snarled. "Buffy and I won't just sit here and do nothing."

"Would you two prefer to sit in the cage and do nothing?" he asked knowing it was an empty threat. As had already been proven they could get out at any time they wanted. They could go after Clay at any time they wanted. And he couldn't stop them. He knew they stayed as a simple courtesy to him.

"Don't threaten us," Buffy said.

"Then don't threaten me," Jeremy said.

"We can help," Buffy said. "Please, Jeremy, don't shut us out. Because you know what will happen if you do."

"Maybe you blame me and Buffy for what happened in Toronto, but don't punish us like this," Dawn added.

"You two didn't do anything wrong in Toronto," Jeremy said. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. I thought Toronto was safe. I didn't realize Daniel was gone until Tuesday morning, when he was already there. I'm not going to tell you two how I plan to get Clay back because then you'll both want to help and if I don't let either of you, you'll both go ahead and try anyway."

"But—" Dawn said.

Jeremy leaned forward. "I'm being honest with the two of you. More honest than I'd dare be with anyone else." He looked pointedly at Buffy. Buffy nodded in understanding remembering their conversation before she, Dawn and Clay had left. "Everything is falling apart. I wasn't prepared to handle this. If I've been a good Alpha all these years it's because I've never been tested. Not like this. I started slow, feeling things out, gathering information. Peter and Logan got killed and Buffy was bitten. I changed course and took off again, going after Jimmy Koenig. You, Dawn, almost got killed. And to tell the truth if you had been killed, I would have forced Buffy to challenge me. We all know she is the only one who can take me; the Slayer made the werewolf half of her that strong. When you weren't killed, I sent you two and Clay away where I thought you'd both be safe. Less than a week later, Daniel found you both. Now he has Clay."

"But—" Dawn repeated.

Jeremy stood and smiled at the sisters. "I'm sorry. I really am. But this is how it has to be."

"Jeremy," Buffy said. "Here is the deal. You can take it or leave it. Dawn and I are willing to give you the time to get Clay back. But we're not going to wait forever. As the Slayer I have a duty not only to ensure Clay's release but to take care of the mutt problem. You have three days and then we'll track them down ourselves and kill them."

Jeremy looked at the sisters and then left without another word. He knew Buffy was right, he just hoped the time limit she had given him would be enough. He had seen what the Slayer did when Dawn was threatened. He was sure what would happen with someone that Dawn loved. The Slayer part of her could not be restrained for long.

Buffy and Dawn started to plan what they were going to do. They knew they needed an ally. They knew Nick was the most likely person for Jeremy was keeping him in the dark in fear that he would tell the sisters anything. Buffy persuaded Nick by saying they only wanted to gather information, so they could prove their value to Jeremy.

Next came finding the mutts. They were sure that Marsten and Daniel had checked out of the motel by now. They couldn't hold Clay there.

The first thing the sisters did was call the hospital in Toronto to check on their apartment manager, thankfully he had been too out of it to have seen anything. The second thing they did was call the local real estate office to check for homes rented or purchased in the past couple of weeks, particularly houses in the rural area. They found no likely suspects among them for Marsten and Daniel's location.

Purposeful action made the hours fly past, leaving little time to brood over Clay's situation. By evening though, Buffy was looking over maps of the area as Dawn was standing by the fireplace thinking. Nick was half dozing on the couch. As the clock on the mantel chimed midnight, Nick woke. He tilted his head backward over the arm of the sofa and looked at the window.

"Full moon coming," he said. "Two, three days?"

"Two," Buffy said as she looked up.

"I'll need to run. How about you two?"

Dawn managed a small smile. "You know perfectly well that Buffy and I don't need to run, since we did more than enough of that three days ago. What you really want to know is: will we run with you and save you from the horrifying prospect of having to run alone."

"I don't know how you two did it in Toronto," he said with a shudder. "I had to do it a couple times last winter. Tonio took off on business and Logan was wrapped up in some court case and Clay—Anyway, I had to Change by myself."

"Poor baby," Buffy teased.

"It was awful," Nick said. "It was, like, walk out to the woods, Change, stand there until enough time passed, Change back. It wasn't fun. Admit it. That's what it was like before Buffy was bitten wasn't it?"

"Actually no," Dawn replied. "Maybe a few times. But being the Slayer, she could keep up, keep pace with me."

"Right, I forgot," Nick replied. "Anyways I remember when I was a kid, before my first Change, and Clay used to—" He stopped.

Silence fell as Dawn turned back toward the fireplace as Buffy looked down at the maps again. Just then the door opened. Dawn and Buffy heard Jeremy come in, but didn't look in his direction. A moment later, the sofa springs groaned as Nick got up. He walked across the room and the door closed again. Jeremy sat beside Dawn on the hearth. His hand touched the back of her head, hesitated, then stroked her hair.

"I know how difficult this is for you, Dawn. I know how scared you are, how afraid are of losing him," Jeremy said.

"It's not that. I mean, of course I'm afraid of losing him. But if you think it's because I've suddenly realized how much I love him and that if—when I get him back," Dawn said, "We'll come back here and everything will be fine, then you're wrong. I'm sorry. I know you want that; that it would be easier for you and everyone else, but it's not going to happen. Yes, I care about him. Very much. And yes, I want him back. I want him back for you and for Nick and for the Pack. I think Buffy agrees that we're upset because we hold ourselves responsible."

Jeremy said nothing.

Buffy looked over at her sister and Jeremy. "So you hold us responsible, too?"

Jeremy shook his head. "No, not at all. I didn't answer because I thought it best to hold my tongue about the rest. If you two think that's why you both are upset—"

"It is," Dawn said.

Jeremy was quiet for a moment. "Whatever the reason for the worry you have, Dawn, I don't hold either of you responsible for what happened. We've been through this before. I should have sent the three of you someplace else, possibly Sunnydale. It would have been a better choice as there would have been no tie between you two and Daniel, no reason for him to suspect you two went there. But I thought I was being clever, but I didn't even realize something happened until I tried contacting Clay that night—"

"Have you done it since?" Buffy asked as she stood and walked over to him and Dawn, "Have you contacted Clay since he's been captured? You've tried, haven't you? What did he say? Is he—"

Jeremy put his fingers to Buffy's lips. "Yes, I've tried. Tried and tried again. But I can't get through to him. It's the drugs. And he's not dead," he said knowing what the sisters might be thinking. "You both saw today's picture. He doesn't look good, but he's alive."

"He was alive when Daniel took the picture," Buffy said. "Doesn't mean they might not have killed him afterwards."

Buffy and Dawn knew that Jeremy did not want to believe in that possibility. It had been why he had requested daily pictures. Only time would tell who was right, Buffy or Jeremy.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

The next morning, Jeremy and Antonio took off and the sisters went to work. They spent an hour going over what they knew. When that led nowhere, they tracked down Nick in the exercise room and repeated everything to him, hoping either he'd think of something or the very act of verbalizing it would help them think of something. Nick listened, but didn't have any ideas. So they put aside their investigation and decided to distract themselves so they could come at it fresh later. They did the laundry.

No one had done laundry since Buffy and Dawn had gone to Toronto, probably because it was the last thing on anyone's mind. Dawn didn't realize the full implications of that until she and Buffy were folding the first load and she came across one of Clay's shirts. Dawn stood there in the laundry room holding the shirt.

Buffy set down what she was folding and moved to Dawn, she took the shirt from Dawn's hand and set it down before pulling her sister into an embrace. Buffy looked at Dawn as she held her sister and knew without a shadow of a doubt that what Dawn felt for Clay was real.

Dawn blinked hard as she stepped out of the embrace and they both returned to folding.

After they'd folded the first load, they took it upstairs to put the clothes away. They both left Clay's pile for last. For several minutes, they stood outside his closed bedroom door. Finally they both screwed up the courage to go inside. They rushed through the job, stuffing shirts, underwear, and socks into his drawers. His jeans went in the closet. Dawn was putting the jeans on hangers when she saw the pile of wrapped presents on the closet floor. Without even checking the tags, she knew what they were. Part of her wanted to slam the door shut and run. She didn't want to see them. Yet she couldn't resist. She reached down and picked up the top gift. It was wrapped in Christmas paper, bright candy canes and bows. On the tag, one name scrawled across, obliterating the to: and from: label. Dawn. As she glanced at the others she noticed something, there was two presents for each year wrapped in the same paper. She picked up the matching present and looked at its label which read: Buffy.

Dawn blinked as she looked at the label. Hadn't Clay always hated Buffy? Herself she could understand because he had always loved her. But why Buffy and then it dawned on her.

"Buffy," Dawn whispered as her sister came over to her. She handed Buffy the present and Buffy looked at it confused. "I think he always saw you as a sister, Buffy. In a way you two are the same. Not in the killing a human way but in the fact that you both protect those you love. I think he saw in you a kindred spirit."

"How long?" Buffy wondered. "How long did he …"

Dawn looked through the presents until she found the first one. There were more there for Buffy than Dawn. There were only four there for Dawn, for each year she and Buffy had been in Toronto. There were ten for Buffy. "From the beginning it seems."

The next day. Buffy Nick and Dawn were on the back patio, lying on lounge chairs, luncheon plates on their laps. Jeremy and Antonio had left an hour ago. Since then, the sisters had been trying to figure out how to tell Nick what they'd planned. After a half-dozen false starts, Dawn went with the blurt-it-out approach.

"Buffy and I are going to Bear Valley," Dawn said. "We told Daniel we wanted to see him."

"Is that what was in the note?" Nick asked.

When Antonio and Nick had gone to deliver Jeremy's latest missive to Daniel's post office box, Buffy and Dawn had slipped Nick a note to add to Jeremy's.

"Yes," Dawn said. "We're meeting him at two o'clock."

Nick shook his head. "How'd he get back to you two?"

"He didn't," Buffy said. "We said we were meeting him at two. He'll be there."

"And Jeremy's okay with this?" Nick asked, knowing perfectly well they hadn't mentioned it to Jeremy.

"Dawn and I are not sitting around anymore," Buffy said. "We can't do it. We tried, but we can't. It's not even in my nature, Nick. I'm a Slayer as you well know. To sit on the sidelines, is not me. The moment we found Clay had been taken. Both the wolf and the Slayer in me has been itching for a fight."

Nick sighed and nodded. "I know how hard this is for you, Dawn" he said. "I know how much you love him."

"That's not it," Dawn said. "Look, we've already been through this with Jeremy. I need Clay back. Whether or not you want to help is up to you."

Nick sighed. "I want to help get him back, but I'm not going to help you two get yourselves killed doing it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked.

"Just what it sounds like," Nick said. "I saw the way you two were a few days ago—"

"Is that what this is about? Look at us now. Do we seem flipped out?" Dawn said.

Nick shook his head. "No, and that probably scares me more than if you two were."

"We are going," Dawn said.

"Not without me."

"Fine," Buffy said.

"But I'm not going," Nick said. "So neither are the two of you."

Buffy and Dawn got up and walked next to each other. Nick made the assumption they were about to head for the back door and leapt to his feet and blocked their path.

"What are you going to do?" Dawn asked. "Knock us out and lock us in the cage?"

Nick looked away, but he didn't move. "Where's this meeting?" he asked at last. "Is it in a public place? Because if it's not—"

"It's in The Donut Hole. As public as we could make it," Buffy said. "No matter what you might think, we're not doing anything that might endanger ourselves."

"We wouldn't do anything to endanger you," Dawn added. "The only risk we're taking is in breaking Jeremy's orders. And we're only doing that because he's wrong to exclude us."

Nick nodded. "So you'll meet Daniel in the coffee shop and I'll be there. We'll park right out front. We won't go anyplace with him, even for a walk down the street."

"Actually we won't be driving," Dawn said.

"What?" Nick asked.

Dawn smiled and grabbed Buffy's hand and in a flash of green they vanished.

"BUFFY! DAWN!" Nick yelled.

"Behind you," Buffy said as Nick turned around.

"You do remember?" Dawn asked. "That I am a witch, right? So you coming?"

Nick didn't like it but nodded. "What do I do?"

"Take my hand," said Dawn. "You have to have physical contact with me or someone I am touching."

Nick took Dawn's other hand and they disappeared in a flash of green.

They appeared behind the coffee shop out of sight of everyone who would have witnessed them teleporting in. They walked around front and saw Daniel through the window. He was sitting in a booth. As they walked toward the front door Daniel's eyes followed them. They saw that Marsten seated across from Daniel.

Buffy emitted a low growl when she spotted Marsten. As they walked in, Marsten stood and strolled to the door to meet them.

"You two came," he said. "I'm surprised Jeremy let you two. Or does he know? You both look good. Tired, but that's to be expected. Hopefully all this will be over soon."

"That depends on you," Buffy said.

"In part." He turned to the server behind the counter. "Three coffees. Black for the ladies and—" He looked over at Nick. "One cream, two sugars, correct?"

Nick only glared at him.

"Two black. The other with one cream, two sugars," Marsten repeated to the server. "Put it on my tab." He paused, then turned to the sisters with a wry smile. "I can't believe I just said that in a doughnut shop. I have to get out of this town. It's been a long time, Nicholas. How's your father? I invested in one of his companies last year. Thirty percent return. He certainly hasn't lost his touch."

Ignoring him, Nick sat on a stool at the counter and studied the doughnut display. Marsten took the stool beside him and waved Buffy and Dawn toward Daniel.

"I'll keep Nicholas company," he said.

Daniel didn't look up as the sisters walked over. He stirred his coffee and acknowledged them only with the barest nod. The server delivered their coffee. They pushed it aside and sat on the bench across the table from Daniel. He kept stirring.

"What do you want?" Buffy asked.

Still stirring, eyes on the mug as if it might skitter away if he stopped watching it. "What do I usually want?"

"Revenge," Buffy said.

He glanced up and met their gaze, then broke eye contact to give them the usual slow once-over.

"You want revenge," Buffy repeated to get his brain back on track.

Daniel leaned back in his seat. "No, I don't. I've never wanted that. Whatever the Pack did to me, I'm over it. They're not worth my time. But you two are."

"Here we go," Dawn muttered.

Daniel ignored Dawn. "I know why you two are with them. Because you both are afraid to leave, afraid of what they'll do, and afraid of what will happen to you two without their protection."

"We're not afraid of leaving," Buffy said. "Did you forget what I am, Daniel?"

Daniel smiled at Buffy. "I have not forgotten. But the thing is, Slayers don't usually live very long now do they. Now if either of you want a partner, a true partner. I can give you both better."

"So this is all about winning us? Bullshit," Dawn said.

"You don't think you both are worth it?" Daniel asked. "I thought you both had self-esteem that was higher than that."

"Our IQs are higher than that. This isn't about us. It never has been. It's about you and Clay. You think he has me, so you want me," Dawn said. "And you want Buffy because she is my sister and by that relation alone means she is important to Clay as well making it so you would want her also. Your motivation is as complex as that of a two-year-old seeing another kid with a shiny toy. You want it."

"Dawn, you underestimate yourselves. You underestimate why I would even want Buffy to begin with. Slayer/werewolf hybrid. Think of the new line she will bring to the table. And she comes with you, I know that."

"No, we don't underestimate how much you hate him. What happened? Did he always get the bigger slice of birthday cake?" Dawn said.

"He made my life hell. Him and Tonto over there." Daniel glared toward Nick. "Poor little Clay. He has problems. He's had a tough life. You should be nice to him. You should make friends with him. That's all I ever heard. All they saw was a cute little runt of a wolf cub. He bared his teeth and they thought it was cute. He ordered us around like a miniature Napoleon and they thought it was cute. Well, it wasn't cute from where I was standing. It was—"

Buffy held up her hand. "You're ranting."

"What?"

"Just wanted to let you know," Buffy said. "You're ranting. It's kinda ugly. Next thing you know, you'll be laying out your plans for world domination. That's what all villains do after they rant about their motivation. As the Slayer you don't know how many times I've heard it before. I was hoping you'd be different."

Daniel took a swig of coffee, then shook his head and gave a small laugh. "Well, Buffy, you've put me in my place. You've always been good at that. You say bark and I say how loud."

"I say let Clay go …" Buffy said.

Daniel made a face. "And I say why bother? Okay, there's a limit to my obedience training. I won't let him go just because you want it, Buffy or because Dawn wants it. You two could pout and bat your eyes and plead and, while I'd find that damned arousing, it wouldn't make me release him. I'll make you the same exchange offer I made to Jeremy. You two for Clay."

"Why?" Dawn asked.

"I already told you."

"Because we're so damned irresistible. Uh-huh. Give us a better explanation or we're out of here," Buffy said.

Daniel was silent for a moment, then leaned forward. "Have either of you ever thought of starting your own Pack? Not recruiting a bunch of half-wit mutts, but creating a dynasty? We aren't immortal, Dawn, Buffy…" Buffy and Dawn smirked at that. How little he knew of them. They were immortal. "… but there is a way to ensure our immortality."

"I really hope you're not implying what I think you're implying," Buffy said.

"Children, Dawn, Buffy. A new breed of werewolves. Not half-werewolf, half-human, but complete werewolves, inheriting the genes from both parents. Perfect werewolves. And again with what you bring to the table Buffy. The most powerful werewolves in the world."

"Wow. You really do want to rule the world," Buffy said.

"I'm serious."

"Seriously crazy," Dawn said. "Sorry, but our wombs aren't for sale or rent."

"Not even for the price of a life? Clay's life?"

The sisters glanced at each other and pretended to think about it. Time to call his bluff.

"So you agree that we go with you and you'll release him?" Dawn asked.

"Right. Only, I'm not just going to trust you two to come with me and stay with me, so let's get that straight right off. I've got a place I plan to take you both, someplace suitably remote and secure. You'll be confined. Something like the cage at Stonehaven, but far more luxurious. You both give me what I want, everything I want, and you both won't be in there very long. Once I've convinced you both that I'm the better choice, I'll let you both out. If either of you try to run, I'll put you both back in."

"Gee, doesn't that sound tempting," Buffy said, sarcastically.

"I'm being honest," Daniel said. "It's an exchange. His captivity for the both of yours."

The sisters pretended to think about it. "Here's our condition," Dawn said. "We want to see him released. You'll do it in broad daylight and in a public place. We'll be there with you to watch it happen. Once he's free, we're yours."

Daniel shook his head. "That's not how it works. Once you two are mine, he's free."

"You have no intention of letting him go," Buffy said. "That's what we thought."

The sisters got to their feet, turned, and walked out of the coffee shop. Both Nick and Daniel hurried after them. They had just turned around the side of the building out of sight of customers when Daniel's hand shot out and grabbed Dawn stopping her.

"You both have seen the photos, haven't you?" he asked.

Dawn glared and in a flash of green she teleported two feet out of his grasp.

Daniel stared at his hand for a moment and then understood. Dawn was a witch, which made her like Buffy even more valuable. And he also realized that he couldn't hold them either if they didn't want to be held. He knew that he would have to sedate Dawn till Buffy had agreed to stay with him. Then Dawn would be woken and once she saw Buffy wasn't leaving she wouldn't leave either. "I know you both have seen the photos," he continued. "You both have seen what kind of shape he's in. You both have seen that it's getting worse. How much longer do you think he can hold out?"

Dawn saw Daniel's face and saw the satisfaction in his eyes and she lost it. "You sniveling hyena," she said as she pressed herself against him until their faces were only inches apart. "You kidnap him with a hypodermic needle. You chain him up so you can beat him. But that's not good enough. You have to drug him first. You have to make absolutely certain he can't even summon the strength to spit in your face. Then you beat him. Did it feel good? Did it make you feel like a man, beating your enemy to a pulp when he can't lift a finger to fight back? You're not a man and you're not a wolf. You're a hyena, a bottom-feeding coward. If you lay another hand on him, we'll do something to you that will make that ear bite look like a paper cut. And if you kill him, we will hunt you down. We will find you and we will inflict on you every torture we can imagine. We'll blind you and we'll castrate you and we'll burn you. But we won't kill you. We won't let you die. We'll put you in hell and we'll make you live there for the rest of your life."

Dawn threw Daniel aside. He stumbled, recovered, and turned to face her and Buffy. His mouth opened, closed, opened again, but he couldn't seem to think of a suitable reply, so he settled for turning on his heel and stamping back around the corner. They heard a low whistle and turned to see Marsten leaning against the side of the building.

"The bitches are back," Marsten said. "Well, well. This might get interesting."

"Go to hell," Buffy and Dawn snarled.

Dawn grabbed Nick and Buffy's hands and disappeared in a flash of green.