CROSS ROADS
Author: MeB
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Spoiler: Takes place in Buffy Season 2, sometime after Lie To Me
Author's Note - This was written for Xander/Willow fans. This is also a
Crossover of Buffy the Vampire Slayer/X-Files.
Summary: Willow is kidnapped by a terrorist known as the Speaker, and Xander
begins to realize his true feelings for the only girl he has ever loved. In
the meantime, Spike agrees to a truce with Angel for a common goal while
Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully team up with Rupert Giles with a lead on
Willow's location. Buffy teams up with friends of Willows parents who are
agents with an agenda of their own. Terrorism is something Buffy has never
faced before...but something else threatens Sunnydale. Something evil...an
evil thought once destroyed. (NOTE-this was written without prior knowledge
of Season 3 and beyond. This follows the trail of an aternate timeline.)
Disclaimer: The characters of Jeremiah, Michael & Stacy Lenox, Albert
Barrington, & Billy Fronk are mine. They belong to me. The characters of
Fox Mulder and Dana Scully belong to Chris Carter. All characters from
Buffy, and familiar phrases and scenes belong to Joss.
Rating - PG-13...However, there is some language, and this is a bit darker
than I, Yours...You, Mine.
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CROSS ROADS
Prologue-An Interview
Willow Rosenberg opened her eyes...and she had to close them again abruptly
for a bright light was shining directly into her eyes. She reflexively
tried to bring her hands up to shade her eyes from the light but she soon
discovered to her dismay that she was unable to. Her hands were bound to
something, and she couldn't see what it was. An overpowering feeling of
panic began to take her as she struggled in vain with her bounds. It was no
use, however, and she forced herself to stop trying long enough to think
things through.
She sat still and closed her eyes. "Calm down, Willow...calm down, calm
down..." Although her heart was still racing, she managed to take several
deep breaths and made herself calm. It was no easy task, unfortunately, for
she could not yet convince herself that this wasn't some kind of bad dream.
Finally, she opened her eyes again.
The light was still bright, but her eye were adjusting and she tried not to
look directly into the light. Her eyes adjusted well enough to know that
she was sitting in a chair that was bolted to the floor. Her wrists were
tied to the arms of the chair just as her ankles were bound to the front
legs of the chair. Willow stared as she tried to make sense of what her
senses were telling her, but she couldn't imagine why she was tied to a
chair, and yet the inescapable fact was evidently clear.
"I'm tied to a chair..." Willow whispered, amazed.
She had oftened wondered how she was going to die. After all, many young
teenagers the world over had the question of how they would die cross their
minds a time or two. But living in Sunnydale and surviving the horrors that
most adults knew nothing about, Willow had wondered about death more than
just a time or two. It crossed her mind several times that one terrible
night, a vampire would finally catch her and feed upon her. Or she would
meet her horrible fate with a giant bug squashing her. It was possible she
would meet a witch who would turn her into a toad...or something worst. Or
perhaps bed bugs would really bite. Or...
There were many other ways of possible death scenarios that she had
envisioned...but what kind of monster would tie her up to a chair and shine
a bright light in her face?
Certainly not vampires!
she thought frantically. She remembered
that her mothers high school friend had come to visit, and...
Suddenly she remembered! Willow remembered coming home from school...
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<"Mom? Dad?" Willow called out as she closed the door behind her. "I'm
home! Stacy?"
There was no answer.
*Maybe they didn't hear me,* she thought. *Adults can get so wrapped up in
the adult world so much that they just forget we have a non-adult world,
too. But we do have a world.*
She went into her room and placed her school books onto her bed. She
glanced over at her computer in the corner of her room and noticed that it
was on. She frowned in thought. She was certain that she had turned it off
before she went to school. Puzzling over why it was on, she turned her
computer off...again.
"Mom?" she called. She turned her head to look out her doorway.
A shadow passed over the corridor floor.
Frowning, Willow took a step toward her doorway...and then another. But
something was wrong. She could feel it and it made her wish that Buffy and
Xander were with her. *Especially Xander...but, oh, wait!* She let out a
sigh. *Xander wanted to be with Buffy, or Cordelia! He can't fool me!
I've seen the way they act together! I--* She forced her thoughts to stop
thinking about Xander, and stepped out into the hall.
"Stacy? Dad?" She frowned again. "Mom? Anybody home?"
She made her way to the kitchen and that's where she found her parents and
her Mom's friend. They were lying on the kitchen floor. She ran to them
and knelt beside her Mom. Willow was relieved to see that she was
breathing, but why were her parents and Stacy lying on the floor? Willow
got up and hurried to the kitchen counter where the phone was. She picked
up the phone and she froze. Somehow, she could feel the eyes of a stranger
watching her and she knew that someone was there. Someone who shouldn't be.
Slowly, she turned her head and there she saw a man standing in the
doorway of her kitchen.
"Uh...hello?" Willow said meekly.
The stranger rose his arm and that's when Willow saw the gun. The man fully
intended to shoot her and there was nothing she could do about it. All she
wanted to do was to know why...and kiss Xander. But mostly, she just wanted
to know why.>
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"I haven't done anything to anyone..." Willow replied softly as she sat in
her chair. "I'm just a girl. Well, I call Principal Snyder Mr.
Nazi...but...well...he is mean."
"Do you always talk to yourself, Willow?"
Willow sat up straight and she would have bolted if she had been able to.
She tried to look around, but the light made it impossible to see anything
clearly. It was eithor too bright, or there were spots in her eyes.
"Uh..." Willow began hesitantly, "only when I'm scared, cuz...talking seems
to help."
"Would it help then if we talked together?...You and I?"
Willow thought she saw a shadow somewhere beyond the light, but she wasn't
too certain. "I-I don't know who you are." She swallowed nervously,
realizing suddenly how dry her throat was. "I don't know where I
am...Some...somebody shot me."
"You were tranquilized."
She frowned. "Oh." She paused. "My Mom and Dad?...Stacy? Where are--?"
"They are fine, Willow. They, too, were tranquilized." There was a pause.
"We left them where they lay."
"Oh..."
There was another pause, one more ominous. "We wanted only you."
Willow's eyes widened fearfully. "M-me?"
"Yes, Willow. You." There was a longer pause.
Willow tried to strain her hearing but she couldn't tell if the man was
moving or not. She couldn't hear him breathing or anything else that might
tell her where the man was beyond the light. All she could hear was her own
beating heart and her own breathing.
"Aren't you grateful, Willow?" the voice suddenly asked.
Willow winced. "Wh-what?"
"Grateful to us that we chose you instead of your parents or your Mom's
friend? After all, you are so much younger than they are and perhaps
stronger in many ways. If we had taken them, they very well could be dead
right now. So you see...you were the logical choice. The right choice.
You saved them."
Willow's mouth felt so dry. She thought of her parents and Stacy, who was
like an aunt to her. "They...they would have...died?" she asked hoarsely.
Her eyes were forming tears.
"Yes. They would have. But you saved them, Willow."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
There was a long silence. When the voice returned, he did not answer the
question. "Willow, let's participate in a social function, shall we? For
example, let's just say that you came here looking for a job. You have
filled out your application and I have reviewed it only to discover that I
have considered you worthy of hiring. So you are now here today for a
simple interview." A brief pause. "Do you understand, Willow?"
Willow hesitated. "I...I really don't like this s-social function."
The question was repeated, sternly. "Do you understand?"
She took a deep breath. "You're going to ask me questions...you want me to
answer them."
"Very good, Willow."
She shook her head, tears freely falling down her cheeks. "Please...y-you
have to believe me! I-I don't know anything! I don't even know who you
are!" She cried. "Please...let me go home."
"Willow..." the voice sounded so concerned. "There is nothing to fear here.
However, I do believe that I can give you something that will help you
overcome your fear."
The impact of his words struck her like a heavy blow. Her eyes widened in
fear. "No...no, please! You can't--"
"Willow, it will ease your fears. Otherwise...I will be forced to play out
a different scenario. A different social function. One in which one of my
colleagues has suggested to me." He paused. "He suggested to me that I
break every one of your fingers one by one, but I hardly think that's
necessary. Do you?"
Willow shook her head. "No! No...please...I like my fingers."
"Good. So do I."
Then there was silence.
Willow was thinking to herself that now would be a good time for Buffy to
show up and break this guys fingers, but that didn't happen. Fearful for
what could happen to her, she strained to hear where the speaker was. She
still couldn't see him, but now she wondered if he was even alone. He had
mentioned that there was a colleague...was there more than one colleague?
Never in her life had Willow felt so scared and alone than she did at that
moment.
Suddenly, Willow cried out as something sharp stuck into her right arm. She
turned her head and saw someone at her side, and he was injecting something
into her blood.
She couldn't even struggle.
Just as quickly as it had happened, it was suddenly over. The man
disappeared into the light. It had happened so face that Willow realized
she hadn't even caught a glimpse of the man's face.
"Oh, m-my God..." Willow stared down at her arm. "What...what was that?"
she asked fearfully.
"It is called...scopolamine," the Speaker answered. "Do you know what
scopolamine is, Willow?"
She tried to control her breathing, but something was wrong. She was
beginning to feel very strange. She shook her head. "No...except it's
bad...very bad..."
"It is a truth serum."
Willow's vision became blurry. "I don't like you...and that's the truth..."
"The truth serum relaxes your body and your mind. It helps you to be
truthful during the Interview. It helps to reveal all of your secrets.
Your every desire. Your darkest fears. And you will tell me
everything...won't you, Willow?"
There was a long silence. Finally, Willow pouted. "Do I have to?"
"Yes, Willow. You have to. Then...after the Interview, we will let you
sleep. You must be tired."
Willow closed her eyes. She didn't seem to notice when a chair was placed
in front of her and a man sat down into it. His name was Abhar Jhamel, the
Speaker, and he was a terrorist. He gently used his thumb and finger to
open Willow's right eye and he was pleased to see her pupils dilated.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Willow...Rosenberg..." she responded.
"Where do you live?"
She told him the address.
"Who is your bestfriend?"
"Buffy Summers...and...and Xander Harris..." She smiled. "Alexander
Harris...Xander Harris...Xander, Xander, Xander..."
Jhamel regarded her. "Do you like Xander, Willow?"
She nodded dreamily. "Yeah...a lot...only...it's not exactly 'like' 'cuz
it's more like love..."
"You love Xander?"
"Yeah...a lot...but..." She frowned. "Xander likes Cordelia...That isn't
fair because I like Xander a lot more than he thinks he likes Cordelia...And
what has she got that I haven't got anyway?...I love Xander...I always
have...always will..."
"Willow...if you had to live in this world without Xander, could you?"
Tears formed in her eyes. "Live?...without Xander?..." She shook her head.
"No...I'd...I'd rather die than live without him...Please don't take my
Xander..." She began to cry.
"This is very interesting, Willow. But tell me...who is Buffy Summers?"
Willow smiled. "Buffy Summers is my friend."
Jhamel waited. "Yes. What else is Buffy? What does Buffy Summers do?"
"Oh...oooh!" Willow tried to look at him. "I know this one!! Buffy
Summers is...Buffy, the Vampire Slayer!"
Jhamel regarded her thoughtfully. For a moment, he remained silent.
Finally, he said, "Willow...this next question is very very important. It
is the main reason you are here. Do you understand?"
She frowned. "I think so..."
"Tell me, Willow...where is the Hellmouth?"
Willow paused in thought. "Ooh, I know this one, too!...In Sunnydale!"
Jhamel took a deep breath. "Where is Sunnydale, Willow? Where?"
"Oh, I...I don't know where...exactly..." She sounded like she was drifting
off.
Jhamel closed his eyes, cursing himself for his failure. It was obvious
that the girl didn't know. He was prepared to end her life just then.
But then Willow said, "I...I never went down there...but they did...They
know where it is..."
Jhamel leaned forward. "Who knows, Willow?"
"Buffy, Xander...and Angel...They've been there when...when Buffy fought the
Master..."
Jhamel smiled. "Thank you, Willow. I will let you sleep now."
He left her there and went back beyond the light. He went through a door
and entered into another room where equipment was set up in front of a large
two-way mirror. Even if Willow could have seen the mirror beyond the light,
she would only see her reflection. But the terrorists in the room were able
to see her...and they were able to video tape the Interview.
One of the terrorists approached Jhamel. His name was Rueben Julius and he
was the Speaker's right-hand man. They called him the Knife because he
enjoyed using it on helpless victims.
"The recording is completed," Julius told Jhamel. "Now what of the girl?
Do we finish her and drop her somewhere?"
"She still might be useful, Rueben. Remember, she is the Slayers friend.
We will need her as a hostage." He paused. "However...I think it best if
we send a few men out to find this Xander. He was at the Hellmouth. He can
lead us to it." Then he stood up tall and thrust his chest out with pride.
"And when we find the Hellmouth, America will suffer greatly!"
As the terrorists beamed at each other with their arrogant pride, a presence
stood beside the bound girl in her chair. The presence laid a hand of
comfort upon Willow's brow and said, "You are not alone, child. A Guardian
Angel has been sent to watch over you, and I am that Angel." Jeremiah
stayed beside Willow and he waited for the events of terror to unfold.
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Chapter 1
It was dark, and Special Agent Fox Mulder couldn't think of anything better
to do then to lean against his rental car and toss sunflower seeds one by
one into his mouth. His rental was parked in the parking lot of a Motel 6
and he was content to stay where he was with his thoughts and his seeds.
What he was really doing was waiting.
Waiting was somthing that he had learned to excel in. With his reputation
as the FBI's most spookiest agent, waiting was in his nature. Yet being an
agent for the FBI did have a lot of major setbacks. Most of those setbacks
were caused by the higher officials of the government who used ordinary
people like puppets to do their evil deeds.
Mulder was on vacation anyway, so he didn't really give a rats dirty behind
about what his superiors thought. He was going to spend his vacation the
way he wanted to and he couldn't think of any place better to spend it than
at the most mystical spot on earth...Sunnydale, California.
As he popped another seed into his mouth, he saw a car pulling into the
empty parking space next to his rental. He smiled. His vacation was just
about to officially begin.
A woman with red hair turned off the car and climbed out of it only to
regard him from over the rooftop of the vehicle. "Mulder, this better be
good. Unlike some people, I have work to do."
"C'mon, Scully. Take a break." Mulder smiled at her as he took in a breath
of fresh air. "This is a beautiful night. The air is fresh here in
Sunnydale, don't you think? It's like heaven." He rose his eyebrows.
"Except it's a bit closer to hell than heaven."
Scully looked at him closely. "All right, Mulder. Now I know something's
wrong. You used the words 'beautiful' and 'heaven' in a sentence. That is
out of character for you." She walked around the car to approach him. "By
the way, AD Skinner sends his greeting. He has high hopes that you will
work out some of your issues while on vacation before you return to work."
Mulder frowned. "Issues? I don't have any issues, Scully."
Scully frowned at him.
"What? I haven't broken any rules or government taboos lately, have I?"
She let out a sigh. "Mulder, why did you drag me out here?"
"I didn't drag you out here, Scully. I just saw you get out of your car of
your own free will." He chuckled. "Maybe you wanted to be here, Scully.
Maybe you want to be dragged. You want me to get rough with you, little
lady? Maybe deep down inside of you, there's a cowgirl who wants to get out
into the world and experience life on the range."
Scully rose her eyebrows and looked at him as if he were an alien himself.
"A 'cowgirl', Mulder?" She scowled. "Mulder!"
He chuckled again. "All right! All right. Maybe not a cowgirl." He
grinned and pointed up at the Motel 6 sign at the end of the parking lot.
"Look, Scully. They left the light on for us." He looked beneath the sign
and he noticed three individuals that seemed to be watching them from the
shadows.
Scully didn't notice them. "Mulder, what exactly are you doing in Sunnydale
on your vacation?" She regarded him. "Please tell me that this is not
about aliens, or alien abductees, or circus freaks, because to be honest,
I've had it up to here with little green men and sideshow mutants! They're
either just too elusive or too hideous and we can't even catch a glimpse of
the aliens anyway."
Mulder shook his head. "No, Scully. It's not about aliens or freaks."
"Then what?"
"Have you ever heard about the Hellmouth, Scully?"
Scully looked at him incredulous. "The what mouth?"
He grinned at her. "Hellmouth."
Scully shook her head in amazement. Finally, she gave in and shrugged her
shoulders. "I'm going to regret this, Mulder, but I'll bite. What is the
Hellmouth?"
"Look at that! You just made a pun!"
"Mulder!" she scolded impatiently.
"A few years ago, the Lone Gunmen wrote an article about a dimensional
doorway that literally leads straight into hell itself. Every form of demon
imaginable-and unimaginable-lives on the other side of that doorway, just
waiting for a chance to enter into our world to wreak unholy havoc upon the
earth."
"'Unholy havoc,'" Scully repeated.
"That's right. And with a Hellmouth, there are those who want to do evil to
their fellow man. Not just because they were cut off in traffic, or they
purchased a bad cup of coffee at their local java shop, but because they are
in fact evil in and of themselves. They thrive on the pain of others and so
they seek the Hellmouth in the hopes of finding a way to open it, thereby
releasing the demons from the other side."
"Mulder...I'm surprised at you."
Mulder looked at her curiously. "Why?"
"Because that sounds a little too much like a form of religious
indoctrination."
"Scully, you've read the Bible. You know that it has been said that
Revelations reveals the end of the world. Demons will walk on this earth in
the last days. They will be riding horses, 'having breastplates of fire,
and of jacinth, and brimstone...And the heads of the horses were as the
heads of lions...And out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and
brimstone. By these were the third of men killed, by the fire, and by the
smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.'" He leaned
toward her and smiled, looking her in the eye. "'Oh, he that has ears, let
him hear.'"
She rolled her eyes. "Mulder, some of what is written in the Bible is meant
as parables."
"That is true, Scully. But there are many who would say to you that a great
percentage of what has been written has already come to pass."
Scully regarded him. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"
He nodded as he looked back toward the sign. The three individuals were
still there.
"I've never heard you talk about the Bible like this before." She paused in
thought. Then, she frowned. "Wait a minute! You think there's a Hellmouth
in Sunnydale?!" She shook her head. "Mulder, I can't believe this! You
dragged me out here because of a-a wild hunch that there's a doorway to hell
in this town?"
"There you go again, fantasizing about being dragged," Mulder said with a
chuckle. He reached into the open window of his rental and pulled out a
large bag.
Scully looked at the bag. Then she looked at him suspiciously.
"Mulder...what is in the bag?"
"Sunflower seeds." He looked toward the Motel 6 sign.
Scully looked, too.
The three individuals were moving toward them.
"What's going on, Mulder?" Scully asked, suddenly concerned.
"Do you notice anything peculiar about those three dudes making their way
toward us, Scully?" Mulder asked her.
Scully looked at them. She frowned. She couldn't be certain, but something
looked very wrong with their faces. "What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing. Maybe they just want a snack." Mulder opened the bag of
sunflower seeds. "Maybe they think we're something awful tasty. If our
names were Jim, I wonder if they would think of us as Slim Jim's."
Scully shot him a look. "What are you talking about?"
As the men drew closer, Scully became convinced that they had either walked
away from a terrible accident, or...they were truly the walking dead.
"Mulder...are those fangs?" She stared, reaching for her gun.
Mulder shook his head. "That isn't going to stop them, Scully."
"And sunflower seeds will?" she asked incredulous.
As the three men approached, Mulder tossed the seeds up into the air. The
men stopped as the seeds rained down upon them. For a moment, they looked
confused and troubled. It was clear to Mulder however that his hunch had
been right. They were vampires.
Would Scully see that, he wondered, or rationalize it away?
Scully stared at him. "That's going to stop them, Mulder?! Are you
crazy?!"
Mulder nodded and grinned, but he kept his eyes on the three vampires. They
were looking down at the ground at the spilled sunflower seeds. One of them
bent down and picked up a seed. He stood up, looked at it, and then he
showed it to the others. Then they all turned to look at Mulder and they
growled. His grin faded.
Mulder and Scully took a step back.
"What were you thinking?" Scully asked him, her gun leveled at the three
vampires. The vampires were moving toward them again.
Mulder shook his head. "I don't get it! It worked on the pizza delivery
vamp!"
"Vamp?!" Scully shook her head in dismay. "Not vampires again, Mulder! I
mean, c'mon! The truth is out there...but it doesn't have anything to do
with vampires!"
Suddenly, the three vampires abruptly stopped their advancing toward the
special agents.
Mulder and Scully stopped backing up. Mulder saw someone standing beneath
the Motel 6 sign. Whoever the newcomer was, he was watching them all
intently. The vampires even seemed to resent his presence as they glared
angrily at the newcomer. The man began to walk toward them and as he did,
the vampires backed off until finally, they disappeared into the night.
Scully leveled her gun at the newcomer and demanded, "Stop right there!
Federal agents!"
The man stopped. He looked down and noticed that he was standing in a pile
of sunflower seeds. He looked at Mulder with a puzzled look on his face.
"What's with the sunflower seeds?"
Mulder moved around Scully and placed a hand on her arm, causing her to
lower her weapon. "It's a known fact that vampires are obsessive
compulsive. They can't stand disorder, so when you throw something like
seeds at them, they have to stop and pick them all up."
The stranger regarded him as if he had lost his mind. "I think you'd better
research your vampire lore some more. You seemed to miss out on the
translation somewhere."
"Who are you?"
"A friend."
"A friend?" Scully asked. "Why do you think we need a friend? And who were
those men? What was wrong with them?"
The friend glanced at Mulder. Then he looked at Scully. "Your partner
seems to know who they were."
"Listen to me. I'm a doctor. They looked ill. I might be able to help
them." She paused. "Someone has to get them to the hospital!"
"You can't help them. No one can."
"Why not?"
Mulder looked at her. "Scully, those men were already dead."
She let out a sigh of frustration. "Mulder, they looked alive and well to
me." She frowned. "Well...all right, maybe not well, but..." She trailed
off.
Mulder turned to the stranger. "You know what really goes on here in
Sunnydale, don't you?"
"What do you think is going on here?" the man asked.
"Why did they run from you? Are you one of them?"
The man regarded him for a moment. "Who are you?"
Mulder glanced at Scully. Then he pulled out his FBI badge. "I'm Special
Agent Fox Mulder and this is Special Agent Dana Scully." He put his badge
away. "Now...who are you? Are you one of them?"
"My name is Angel." He paused as he looked at Mulder and Scully. "What is
it exactly that makes you special?"
Scully was about to respond when Mulder repeated his question. "Are you one
of them, Angel? Is there something special about you?"
Angel regarded him. "I don't know what brought you to Sunnydale...Just be
careful." With that, he turned and began to walk away. He started across
the street.
Mulder called out to him. "Hey! Wait!"
He was about to try to cross the street, but a car drove by at that moment,
and he was forced to step back onto the curb. Scully was by his side. When
the car had drove past them, they looked across the street.
Scully frowned. "Mulder...where is he?"
They looked around, but Angel was nowhere in sight.
Mulder turned his head and discovered that Scully was looking at him. He
smiled at her. "Welcome to Sunnydale, Scully."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Angel was deeply troubled.
Something was about to happen, but he couldn't place what it was. He had
heard rumors about strange men moving into town, but there was nothing to
tell him who they were and what they wanted. All he could hope for was to
find a lead that would take him directly to them. He also had a strong
suspicion that Spike and Dru were up to something themselves, and yet some
wild hunch convinced him that they were not the greatest threat to
Sunnydale.
At least not yet.
No...There was something else. Some sinister danger was lurking nearby, and
it was stalking the innocent. This time, however, the stalker of the
innocent was not the undead.
The presence of the FBI agents onle seemed to confirm this for him.
He had to find Buffy and tell her to be on the lookout for a new threat,
before someone got hurt. However, as he searched for Buffy, he didn't find
her anywhere at all of her usual hangouts. She wasn't at the Bronze, she
wasn't at home, nor was she patroling out in the cemetary. Of course, he
realized that he could have simply missed her. He checked the school
library and once again, came up empty. She was not at the library training
with her Watcher.
Just before sunrise, he decided to try searching for Buffy at one more
place.
He stopped by Willow's house. As he stood on the patio at the door that led
to Willow's room, he knew that something was wrong. He sensed it. Looking
up, he noticed that the sun was on the horizon. Not wasting any more time,
he tried the door and discovered to his surprise that it was unlocked.
Having been invited once into her home by Willow, Angel decided to press on
and he slowly opened the door the rest of the way.
"Willow?" he inquired softly.
There was no answer.
His eyes immediately took in Willow's room. The bed was empty. It hadn't
of even been slept in.
Beyond Willow's room, Angel heard voices. He stepped into the room and
stood listening in the doorway of Willow's room.
"We'll find her, Stacy," a man said with confidence. "The important thing
is that at least Ira and Sheila are safe. Your friend is going to be fine."
There was a pause. "And we will find Willow."
There was a pause. Then a woman's voice responded, "Michael...why would
terrorists want to take Willow? She's just a...a young child!"
"She's a hostage now. But you're right. We need to get her back...but we
also need to know what they want." There was a sigh of frustration. "Al
has an idea about that, and considering what we know about Sunnydale...it's
not good. There may not be any time."
Angel had heard enough for the moment. If he didn't leave soon, he would
not be able to leave at all. The sun had already begun to rise.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
The two terrorists rode in a stolen car along the streets of Sunnydale. It
was very early, and soon the sun would be rising. The car drove slowly
through the neighborhood streets until it came to a house that was of
interest to them. The vehicle stopped, and one of the terrorists climbed
out with a purpose. He walked up to the front porch, placed something on
the door mat, and then he returned to the car. The terrorists then used the
Summers driveway to turn themselves around, and they drove away, having
completed their mission.
BXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBXBX
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Chapter 2
The sun was now shining down upon Sunnydale, just as it had for many
centuries before...even before it became Sunnydale. The birds were
chirping, the pleasant breeze was making the flowers sway, and life was
stirring awake to face another day.
Michael Lenox was pouring two cups of coffee from in the kitchen as his
wife, Stacy, was standing before the window in the living room, staring out
and seeing nothing but what was in her mind. She was uneasy and scared for
Willow. Ira and Sheila Rosenberg were in a safe place, and she was grateful
for that for she and Sheila had been friends since high school. Willow had
become special to Stacy, like a daughter she never had...and yet she was
missing. Willow was alone out there somewhere, terrified and facing dangers
that only she knew of.
Lenox came into the room and handed her a cup of coffee.
Stacy took it from him automatically, but her mind was not on coffee. She
fixed her questioning eyes on her husband. "Has Bill found anything?" she
asked anxiously.
Lenox looked at her as he took a sip. "I thought you were big on faith,
Stacy." He was concerned for his wife. He didn't like the scared look in
her eyes.
"Faith is always good, my husband...but I am still only human." She
hesitated. "I believe that there is a purpose for what is happening
here...I just can't explain what that is." She shook her head. "It doesn't
have to do with terrorists."
"But there are terrorists in Sunnydale," he said quietly. "This we already
know. Inspite of what you feel with your faith, the evidence we do have
shows us that terrorists had tapped into Willow's computer and they linked
it to their own. Everything Willow had in her system, they were able to
break into without letting her know that they were there." He shrugged
helplessly. "I don't know what else there could be out there that is
driving toward some specific purpose. Other than the terrorists."
"You know there are other things involved, Michael." She looked into his
eyes, searching. "All things work together for the good. I believe that.
I've seen evil at work and yet somehow, good does prevail. Sometimes it's
not so noticeable at first, but...Well, you've seen it, too. And now that
this is happening here...in this town, you want to see that it's only a
coincidence?"
Lenox shook his head. "Honey...you're right. We know what's been going on
in this town, and we have known it for a few years how different this place
is. Look, Willow and her friends probably know more than we do about it
because they've been here. They live here. Maybe that's the evil we should
fear. Something Willow knows...about the Hellmouth, or any other horror,
could be what the terrorists are after."
"Well, that's not a good thing," said a voice from behind them. "But
apparently, the terrorists have been watching Sunnydale for as long as we
have."
Husband and wife turned as one and they found Albert Barrington standing in
the doorway of the living room. "Has Crazy Man found something to support
that?" Lenox wanted to know.
Barrington nodded solemnly. "He's found a link with other networks
throughout Sunnydale. A network of information, Knox. Everything from
school records to police records. Bank accounts, hospital records, medical
histories, morgue reports...you name it, it's there. Using that network of
info, I'd say that the terrorists might even know more about this town than
we do." He shook his head in amazement. "I don't know how he does it but
Crazy Man is making Willow's computer sing like a bird."
Stacy shook her head, clearly bothered by something. "I don't understand,
Al. That brings us right back to Willow. What was so different about her
that made them take her?"
Lenox glanced at his wife. "I can think of one thing that makes her
unique." He drank some of his coffee. "Willow is friends with the Slayer."
"Buffy Summers?" Stacy inquired. She frowned. "I still can't believe that
Buffy is the Slayer, Michael. When I first saw her, well...she's just a
child. Like Willow."
Lenox finished his coffee and set the cup down onto the coffee stand.
"Well, this child is a Slayer. We need to find Buffy and Alexander." He
looked at Stacy. "Sooner or later, they're going to come looking for
Willow. They'll know something is wrong when she doesn't show up for
class."
"School's already begun," Stacy told him.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
They looked at her.
Resolved, Lenox picked up the phone. He knew it would not be the terrorists
calling. They were not after a ransom. They had already taken what they
wanted and now they were up to something else.
So it had to be...
"Hi," greeted a young girls voice. "This is Buffy. Is Willow there?"
Lenox cleared his throat. "Buffy. No...Willow isn't here."
There was a pause. "Mr. Rosenberg?"
"No...I'm Michael Lenox."
"Oh! I remeber you. Your wife went to school with Willow's Mom. Willow
thinks you guys are cool."
He paused in thought as he glanced at Stacy. "She does?"
"Yes! She says that you do laundry for the government. Spy stuff! Like
James Bond, only without the British accent and the shaken, not stirred
drink." She paused on the phone. "Or is that stirred, not shaken?"
Lenox looked from Stacy to Barrington. He wanted to know how on earth did
Willow know that he worked for the government. To Buffy, he said, "Listen,
Buffy. My wife and I need to see you and Alex. We have to talk."
"We do?" Buffy paused. "Is this spy stuff?"
He hesitated. "Yeah. You could say that."
"Okay...but don't call Xander Alex. He doesn't like that."
Lenox shrugged. "Consider it done."
There was a pause. "Mr. Lenox...is there something wrong?"
He hesitated. "Where can we meet you?"
"We'll be at the library. Besides...someone left a video on my doorstep
this morning. We'll watch it until you arrive."
"That's fine. We're on our way."
He hung up.
Then he realized what Buffy had just said. "Oh, God..."
Stacy looked at him with concern. "Michael, what is it?"
"Someone left a video on Buffy's doorstep."
Lenox and Stacy headed out the door and for the car. Barrington went to see
if William "Crazy Man" Fronk needed any help.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"This is not happening!!" Cordelia Chase screamed.
Xander Harris nearly jumped from his seat at the table as he had been trying
to study from a history text bigger than a boom-boom box. "Cordy!" he
hissed. "Oh, Mighty Queen of the Paint-By-Nails Club! This is a library!"
He put a finger before his lips. "Shush!"
Cordelia pouted and showed him her nails. "But...I just broke a nail!"
Buffy Summers, who had been rummaging through her bag at the table, rolled
her eyes. "Is that all?"
Cordelia shot her a venomous look.
"Oh...I mean..." Buffy hesitated. Then, she shrugged her shoulders and
smiled innocently. "Oh, darn. I hate when that happens."
"Easy for you to say, Buffy!" Cordelia exclaimed. "Your nails aren't as
important as mine. After all, you chip and break your nails every time you
throw a stake. But I have a life! Men adore me." She looked at her broken
nail with dismay. "Now I have been marred for life!"
Buffy looked at Xander and rose her eyebrows as if to say, "Get a life,
girlfriend."
Xander looked at Buffy and shook his head. "It's the end of the world as we
know it...and I feel fine."
Buffy grinned and rummaged some more through her bag.
Cordelia nodded angrily at Xander. "Oh, sure! Make fun of me! You don't
need nails!"
Xander rolled his eyes. "Cordy, why cry over one broken nail? Use a
different finger to reach those hard to reach bouger-baddies. Or wait until
your broken nail grows a-new, then go to town on yourself."
She glared daggers at him. "Oh...You!!...You!!!"
"Me! Me! Me!" He threw his hands up into the air. "The truth comes out.
It's always about you, Cordy, isn't it?" Before Cordelia could make a
reply, Xander turned to Buffy curiously. "What are you digging in there so
furiously for, Buffy? Cordy-Repellant Spray?"
Cordelia continued to glare at him.
Buffy shook her head. "No, I'm just looking for a tape. I figured we'd
watch it while we waited for the Lenox' to arrive."
"Ooh...goody!" Xander rubbed his hands together. "A porno flick. What
have you brought for us, Buffy? 'Cordy Does Sunnydale'?" He slapped his
forehead. "I'm sorry. What am I saying? That's not a porno! That's a
horror flick!"
"If you don't stop that," Cordelia warned, shaking her finger at him,
"you're going to regret it!"
Buffy found the tape and pulled it out of her bag. "I honestly don't know
what's on this tape, Xander. I found it on my doorstep this morning."
Xander frowned. "You did?"
Buffy nodded.
Xander slowly rose to his feet and moved toward Buffy. All the while, his
eyes were glued to the video tape in Buffy's hand. He held out his hand.
Usually, Buffy would ignore him, but there was such intensity about the way
he held his hand out and looked at her that she found herself handing the
tape over to him. She was suddenly concerned. She didn't like the look on
Xander's face.
Cordelia sensed the sudden demeanor from Xander and she was just as
concerned.
"Xander..." Buffy began softly, "you're wigging me out."
Xander held up the video tape in his hand. The his eyes found Buffy's and
he held her gaze. "I've known Willow for all of my life, Buffy. My God...I
should have seen this coming."
"Xander...what is it? Seen what coming?"
"Willow didn't show up here at the library for study after school yesterday.
'Okay,' we say. 'She's visiting with family and friends.' But we didn't
call her to find out for sure." He swallowed. "I didn't call. Buffy...I
always call...but not this time." He took a deep breath. "When the night
drags on and we find ourselves at the Bronze...still no sign of Willow. And
still...I don't call her. No, no. Because I'm too busy dancing on the
dance floor with Cordy and having way too much fun."
Buffy looked at him with growing concern. "Xander..."
"Then she doesn't show up for school this morning and you call her home.
Not me. You. And this Lenox guy, some friend of Willow's family, answers
the phone. 'Willow is not home,' he says to you. 'We need to talk.' This
coming from a guy who Willow has told us works for the United States
Government, and if Willow told us that, then you know it's true!" He held
up the tape. "Then this morning, you found this tape on your doorstep!
Which means that someone must have put it there during the night or early
morning hours. The question begs to be asked, Buffy...Why?!"
Buffy had found that she had been holding her breath. "Oh, my God...you
don't think that...?" She couldn't finish.
Xander was furious.
Buffy and Cordelia looked at him with concern. Neithor one of them had ever
seen him so furious.
"If what I think is on this tape...is really on this tape..." Xander took a
deep breath before continuing, "then there isn't a vampire, demon, witch,
bug-eyed bastard, bad breath, stinking, foul, soul cursing, bad-ass monster
within a thousand miles around Sunnydale that will be safe from my wrath!"
He looked at them with determination. "Because nobody...NOBODY messes with
my Willow!"
Any other time, Buffy might have laughed...but this was no laughing matter
and Xander was dead serious. All she could think about was that if
something had happened to Willow, then it was her fault. She should have
been there for her.
Rupert Giles, the librarian and otherwise known as the Watcher, and Jenny
Calender, technopagan computer teacher, had walked in at the tail end of
Xander's speech. They both had the impression that something was terribly
wrong.
"Buffy..." Giles began calmly as he looked from Xander to Cordelia and
finally to Buffy, "what is it? Why do you all look a-as if the world has
stopped turning?"
Buffy just looked at him.
Xander moved past Giles without a word and headed for the back where Giles
had his office and another room for conferences. It wasn't a very large
room, but it did have a TV and VCR player, and that's what he was after.
Buffy and Cordelia followed right after him, and Giles gave a stunned look
at Jenny. She squeezed his arm and nodded her head toward the room,
suggesting that they should tag along. The two went in after them.
Xander turned the power on the TV and the VCR player, and then he popped in
the tape.
He picked up the remote and stared at it. Finally, with grim resolve, he
pressed play. Behind them, Lenox and Stacy entered, but no one turned to
see them. They were all intent on the screen.
A man with a dark beard was glaring back at them from the TV screen.
Xander scowled. "Who the hell is this guy?"
/"Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," the man began, "I know who you are. You can
call me the Speaker!"/
Buffy sat down, stunned. "He knows who I am!" She was incredulous.
/"I represent the Iranian Liberation Front. We are fighting against you
paganistic American infidels of Satan! Your reign on this earth will end.
Soon! And you will see that you yourself will be the instrument of your own
destruction!"/
"My God..." Jenny looked at Buffy. "This man is a terrorist! Where did
this tape come from?"
Buffy shrugged. "It was on my doorstep this morning." She scowled at the
Speaker. "A terrorist can't be any worst than a vampire."
She was wrong.
/The man on the screen said, "We have Willow Rosenberg and she will very
soon meet her death. Make no mistake! She will die! But how she dies will
depend on eithor you, Buffy Summers...or this Angel...or you, Alexander
Harris!"/
Now they couldn't take their eyes off the screen.
The scenery changed. They saw Willow tied to a chair. They saw the look of
fear on her face. They watched as she struggled in vain to break free from
her bonds.
/"I haven't done anything to anyone..." Willow said softly. "I'm just a
girl. Well, I call Principal Snyder Mr. Nazi...but...well...he is mean."/
/"Do you always talk to yourself, Willow?"/
The look of fear and helplessness in Willow's eyes was like a knife blade
stabbing into the hearts for everyone who was watching the tape. Xander's
fists were closed so tight, his knuckles were white.
/"Uh...only when I'm scared, cuz...talking seems to help."/
Buffy moved her chair closer to Xander as tears welled up in her eyes. But
they couldn't turn away from the screen. They watched the interview in
complete silence. Xander was usually tough, and his face betrayed nothing
except for the hardness in his eyes and the single tear that traced down his
cheek. But that tear didn't fall until Willow revealed her secret.
It wasn't really a secret, but Xander had never heard it from Willow's lips.
Not like this.
/"Do you like Xander, Willow?"/
/She nodded dreamily. Willow was under the influence of the truth serum.
"Yeah...a lot...only...it's not exactly 'like' 'cuz it's more like love..."/
/"You love Xander?"/
/"Yeah...a lot...but..." She frowned. "Xander likes Cordelia...That isn't
fair because I like Xander a lot more than he thinks he likes Cordelia...And
what has she got that I haven't got anyway?...I love Xander...I always
have...always will..."/
/"Willow...if you had to live in this world without Xander, could you?"/
/Tears formed in her eyes. "Live?...without Xander?..." She shook her
head. "No...I'd...I'd rather die than live without him...Please don't take
my Xander..." She began to cry./
The rest was about the Hellmouth and Willow telling the Speaker that only
Xander, Buffy, and Angel knew the exact location of the Hellmouth. Then the
screen went blank...until the Speaker returned.
/"Allow me to show you the kind of night your friend spent here with us,"
the Speaker said./
A new scene appeared. Two terrorists were standing before a closed door.
They were holding clubs and each of them was beside large crude barrels.
They began to bang on the barrels with enough noise to raise the dead. The
scene then switched to something new. Willow was laying on a cot, curled
into a ball. It was clear that her wrists were bound together and the twine
was looped and tied to the headboard of her cot. She was screaming.
/"Make it stop! Make it stop!"/
In that tiny room, the racket had to have been unnerving.
There were other scenes. Each scene, when one of the terrorists would enter
the room, Willow would try to huddle into her corner as far as she could go.
They never touched her, but she was clearly terrified by her captors.
In one scene, a terrorist brandished a knife in front of Willow's face.
/"See this knife?" he snarled. "This knife has the name of Xander on it!
This knife will spill his blood...after he confesses that he never had any
feelings for you accept pity!" The terrorist turned and looked right into
the camera. "This Xander never truly cared for such a pitiful girl as
yourself!"/
When he left the room, Willow had fallen apart.
/The Speaker returned. "Come to me, Buffy Summers! Alexander Harris!
Angel! Don't let her suffer alone! Don't let her die alone."/
The tape seemed to come to its conclusion.
That was good enough for Xander. He rewinded the tape to a close up of the
Speakers face, and he then paused the tape. Then, before anyone could stop
him, he got up and put his fist through the Speakers face and through the
television screen.
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