Enemy Incognito

By Wynn

Chapter Thirty-Four: Truth Takes Time

"This is what we know," Giles said, his grey eyes flickering across the faces crowding the Summers' living room. The only people who were missing from the combined Sunnydale and L.A. crew were Clem and Emilia, who had both volunteered to make a grocery run for the sixteen humans, demons, and in betweens in the Summers' house. Clearing his throat, Giles continued, "Wesley, Lilah, and a man named Samuel approached and hired Tyler to spy on Buffy and film her with surveillance equipment provided by them. The same sort of camera found at Tyler's business was also discovered in the Magic Box and was used to record Faith. We don't know how long the camera at the magic shop was in place or how it was installed without our knowledge."

"Long enough for them to learn all about us," Anya said from her place on the couch. "Tyler knew stuff about me. And more than the fact that I was a Vengeance Demon. He knew about me and Xander, and he couldn't have learned about it from Wesley. He wasn't here then."

Eyes clouded, Giles stared down at the floor. "And our… guest hasn't been very forthright with information since Xander and I brought him back here. So we must assume that whether by the surveillance cameras or other means these people know intimate details of our lives."

"From what Lilah said," Buffy began, pacing slowly in front of the fireplace, "all of these past attacks on us were just tests, ways to assess our fighting skills and how we work with one another." She paused and a small frown appeared on her face. "Or she could have been blowing smoke about the whole 'Maybe we wanted our plans to kill you to fail spectacularly' because she was pissed that they did fail."

Angel shook his head. "Lilah wouldn't lie. She's too confident in her abilities to bow down to simple lying and distractions. So whatever she said to you was deliberate and most likely the truth."

"You're probably right. The planned failure fits with what she said about other plans being made, how there was no way for us to avoid them, we're all going to die, blah, blah, blah." Buffy shrugged as she ran a hand over her hair. "Whatever. No matter how confident she is in her abilities, she knows someone is after her now. I mean, besides us. Those pictures of her and that house on Mulberry-"

"Mulholland," Dawn corrected.

"-Melbourne Lane were a shock to her. Whether these pictures were left for Lilah to find or for us to find, either way it means we may have an unknown ally somewhere working against Lilah, Wesley, and the other guy."

"Samuel."

Buffy flashed a tight smile at her baby sister. "Yes. Samuel. Thank you, Dawn." She sighed as a bright grin appeared on Dawn's face and continued, "Since Lilah's gone, Wesley's MIA, Tyler isn't talking, and we have no way of finding this Samuel guy, our best bet is this house Lilah and Tyler went to. I don't want to sit around and wait for whatever plan these four have cooked up. We're taking the fight to them."

Turning to Willow, Buffy said, "Can you find floor plans for this house? Sewer access tunnels, power line feeds, the usual."

Willow nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"Good. Also see if you can find any information about who owns the house, if there are any utilities being paid for, and so on. Maybe it could lead us to this Samuel person."

"Got it."

Buffy glanced at Angel and Spike as she said, "Feel like a trip to Willy's? See if there's any gossip about the house or any big new player in town."

Spike looked at Buffy, a wolfish grin curving his lips. "No problem, pet. Now, in case he decides to be stingy on the info-"

Suppressing an amused eye roll, she said, "Just don't do too much damage to his place, Ok? The last time we went to him for information Anya started a bar fight."

"I didn't start the bar fight," Anya said. "I just happened to be there right around the time it occurred. Innocent bystander innocently watching the amusing proceedings."

"Well, since you're now an expert at standing innocently and watching, how about you and Faith do some surveillance on Mulholland. Check out the level of activity at the house, who's coming and going, things like that." Her eyes darted to Faith, lingering on the scar slicing across her neck. "You feel up to it?"

"All systems a go, B. I think I can handle sitting on my ass and watching a house."

Buffy watched Faith for a moment longer before she slowly nodded. "Dawn, Fred, Lorne. You guys get started on the research. Try to find anything you can about what sorts of spells or magicks hide electronic devices from detection. Lilah might use the same cloaking spell on any surveillance equipment that could be guarding the house."

Off their nods, Buffy turned and pointed to Gunn, Connor, and Xander. "Can you three take weapons detail? See what we have already and what else we might need for a home invasion."
"What are you going to do?" Xander asked.

A cold smirk curved Buffy's lips. "Giles and I are going to have a little chat with Tyler." The grin faded off her face as she looked around the room. "Everyone knows what to do. Be back here by sundown. We're hitting this place tonight."

* * *

"How are you feeling?"

Faith sighed, her dark eyes darting from the brick house to Anya, who looked at her with arms crossed over her chest and one eyebrow arched in concern. They were on the roof of the building opposite the house Tyler and Lilah had both visited, two hours into their surveillance, and Anya had already asked about Faith's feelings four times. Each time was met with a strained 'Fine' coupled with a murderous scowl on Faith's face, but Anya wasn't deterred by the hostile vibes her best friend was emitting. If anything, Faith's refusal to answer Anya's questions increased her curiosity and prodded her into asking about Faith's thoughts, feelings, and emotions again and again and again.

"And don't say 'Fine,'" Anya said as Faith opened her mouth to speak. "Willow told me about your destruction of the mirror. She said you wanted Tyler to kill you."

Faith rolled her eyes. "Did she now? And since when is Saint Willow an expert on what I'm feeling or not feeling?"

"She's not, which is why I'm asking you," Anya said patiently. She shifted on the shingled rooftop and glanced briefly at the house before she spoke again. "You're my friend, Faith. Deal with my persistent inquiries into your state of mind because they're not stopping anytime soon. No matter how much you glare at me."

"Look, I wasn't pissed because I was still alive. I don't have some death wish or suicidal tendencies, if that's what you're thinking. I was just letting off a bit of steam. So you can chill with the intervention, alright?"

"That's good. I'm pleased you don't wish to die. But then why-"

"Anya, just drop it. I don't feel like analyzing my emotions right now."

"Why not? It's not like we have anything else to do. There isn't anything remotely interesting going on at-"

"Incoming," Faith said, cutting off Anya's boredom tirade, as she saw movement at the end of the street. A long limousine turned the corner onto Mulholland Drive, moving down the road until it slowed to a stop in front of the brick house. A burly driver hopped out of the front seat and maneuvered around the car, opening the rear door. Faith heard Anya's sharp intake of breath as two figures emerged from the shadowed darkness of the limo. Wesley and Lilah moved onto the sidewalk and walked towards the house. Halfway to the front door, the duo stopped.

"What's going on?" Anya whispered. "What are they doing?"

Frowning, Faith squinted into the afternoon sunshine, trying to get a clearer focus on Wes and Lilah. "They're fighting," she said as Wes pointed towards the house, his face inches away from Lilah's. Even from this distance, the strained muscles in Wesley's neck and shoulders were visible, as was the scowl adorning his features. Faith saw Lilah roll her eyes and turn away from Wes, saying something over her shoulder to him; the lawyer walked to the front door and entered the house without looking back. Wesley stared at the brick façade a moment longer before he spun and stalked away from the house. He bypassed the limousine and made his way down the cracked sidewalk stretching alongside Mulholland Drive.

Faith inched away from the roofline. "Stay here and watch the house," she told Anya as she crawled across the tar to the ladder hanging off the side of the building. "Make sure Lilah doesn't go anywhere."

"Where are you going?"

"After Wes."

* * *

The doors to Willy's Bar smashed open, banging against the walls, the vibrations of impact knocking a few of the neon signs advertising various beer, blood, and other liquids onto the dirt encrusted floor. Willy ducked behind the bar, his small, beady eyes peering between the taps towards the entrance. A squeak of fear escaped his lips as he saw Angel and Spike saunter into the silent room, Angel composed and serious, dark eyes drifting around the smoky interior with a measured intensity while Spike strolled around the room with a cocky grin plastered across his face, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet.

Willy sunk to the floor and began crawling towards the exit. First, the Slayer sent the crazy Vengeance Demon to get information, and the broad started a bar fight within two minutes of her arrival. And over the color of her hair, no less. Now, the Slayer sent her two vampires, and Satan knew what these two were capable of. Willy bet the entire bar could be demolished into a big pile of dust in five minutes flat if those two put their minds to it.

He tensed as he heard Spike address the silent crowd. "If you're not Willy, I suggest you leave. Now. Before Peaches gets really mad and decides to delve into his dark side. Angelus-"

The rest of Spike's threat was drowned out by the sounds of chairs squealing against the tiled floor and the rush of feet and hooves scrambling for the exits. Willy increased his speed and had one hand over the threshold when he was lifted up and plopped onto the bar. He giggled nervously as his eyes darted from Angel to Spike, and he lifted his hand in a gesture somewhat resembling a wave. "H-hey, guys. Man, long time no see. I have a nice gallon of O Neg in the back if you're hungry-"

"We're not here for your blood," Angel said. "We have a few questions we'd like you to answer."

"And if you don't answer them," Spike said as he leaned close to Willy, eyes darting down to the barkeep's neck, "we might change our minds about the blood."

Willy swallowed as he shifted on the bar, vainly trying to increase the space between him and Spike. Word on the street was that his chip was no longer an issue, so Willy knew he could make good on his threat. "S-sure. Whatever you guys want to know. I mean, people haven't been telling me much, so I don't know a whole lot, but anything I do know, I'll be glad to tell you."

Spike smiled wickedly. "Excellent. There's a house on Mulholland Drive. Heard anything about it?"

Willy shook his head. "No."

"You sure you know nothing about it?"

"I don't know anything. But that's the weird part. That place used to be a real hotspot for demon activity. All sorts of stuff going down over there. But I haven't heard squat in the last few months. Demons are steering clear of that place." He paused, looking between Spike and Angel. "I figured the Slayers added it to their patrol routes."

Angel placed one hand on the bar and brought his face closer to Willy's. "So you haven't heard anything else about why the demons are suddenly avoiding that place?"

Shaking his head quickly, Willy said, "No, man. I haven't heard nothing else. Nope. Not at all."

Angel pushed off the bar and glanced at Spike. "Now why don't I believe him, Spike?"

Spike shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe 'cause there's something he's not telling us."

"That's what I thought. Don't you feel real bad that our pal Willy has decided to lie to us?"

"I feel really, really bad."

"Me, too. And I don't like feeling bad."

"I hate feeling bad. Makes me feel like hitting something. Or someone."

Willy held up his hands as beads of sweat slid across his forehead. "Ok, so maybe I heard something else. It's no big really. It's just that these people at the house sent word through the demon community that there was a reward for the first one to take out the Slayers." He screamed as Spike grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off the bar, the vampire's blue eyes flashing gold..

"If there's a price on the Slayers' heads, why haven't there been any attacks on them?"

"'Cause no demon in his right mind'll take these people up on their offer. A human wanting the Slayer dead? It don't smell right. And that's all I know, honest. I haven't heard anything else."

Tilting his head, Spike stared at Willy, his gaze cold and dangerous. A minute passed, long enough for Willy's life to flash before his eyes a few hundred times, before Spike released him, sending the barkeep tumbling to the floor. Grinning, Spike ambled away from Willy. "Pleasure doing business with you, Willy."

"Yeah," Angel said, moving towards the door. "It was an illuminating experience. We'll have to do it again sometime."

"Again? Oh, again. Sure, guys. Again would be great. You two are welcome back here anytime you want."

"That's right nice of you," Spike said. "We find out you're lying to us or holding out any more information and we'll take you up on your generous offer. Be seeing you, Willy."

* * *

"Wakey, wakey." Buffy shook Tyler's head, lightly jostling it within her grasp until he opened his eyes and looked at her. "No more beauty rest for you. It's time for a little Q and A."

Tyler jerked his head out of her hands and kicked at her, growling as she danced out of the reach of his foot. "I'm not answering anything, Goldilocks."

Tilting her head to the side, Buffy folded her arms across her chest and said, "Don't call me that."

Snorting in derision, Tyler said, "Why not? Did I offend you? Heaven forbid I offend the chick who has me chained to a concrete pillar!"

"One, it's your own damn fault you're chained to the pillar. If you hadn't tried to kill Faith, you wouldn't be here, looking like you had the crap kicked out of you by an entire football team. And two, only one person is allowed to call me Goldilocks, and it's not you." Buffy paused a moment before she continued, "Now, Giles tells me that you've been less than forthcoming with-"

"I'm not telling you shit, Blondie. And you can cut the threatening crap. You're not going to kill me. You're not even going to hurt me, not with you holier than thou good guy sensibilities. So buzz off, Princess. You're giving me a headache."

Her jaw clenched, Buffy moved a few steps closer to Tyler and said, "We don't have to hurt you. All we have to do is make one phone call."

Tyler cocked an eyebrow. "To the police? And what exactly would you tell them? That I slit some broad's throat before getting pounded to a pulp by a demon and then captured and chained to a concrete pillar in a goddamn basement? If you did that, you'd have to say how I cut Faith and I doubt you want Sunnydale's finest arresting you and yours for breaking and entering."

"The police already think it's a mugging. Turning you in would remove one more deadly criminal from terrorizing the streets of Sunnydale." Buffy smirked as she turned away from Tyler and walked over to Giles. "They'd probably give us a medal."

Tyler yawned. He leaned his head against the pillar and looked at Buffy and Giles through slitted eyes. "You want to turn me over to the cops then do it. At least I'd get to sleep on a cot instead of the fucking floor. Otherwise, leave me the hell alone."

A minute of silence passed before Buffy stalked across the room and yanked Tyler to his feet, shoving him back against the concrete pole. "We turn you into the cops and it'll be for a hell of a lot more than a mugging. We have you on tape accepting an offer to-"

"-to videotape you. Oooh, so I get thrown in the clink for a voyeurism kink." Tyler laughed as Buffy dropped him, causing him to collide with the floor. He slowly maneuvered to his feet as he said, "Face it, girlie. You got nothing. Hell, you don't even know who's trying to kill you."

"I think we have a pretty good idea."

"Yeah, well I think you have no idea. You think you got the inside goods on who wants you dead because you listened to some cassette tape. For all you know, that tape was planted there for you to find, a bit of misdirection leading you away from the real bad guys."

"You're lying."

Tyler shrugged. "It's possible. After all, I am a criminal. Lying comes naturally to me. I could be trying to distract you from going after Lilah with the possibility of another threat vying for your death. Or… I could be giving you that vital piece of information you're so desperately seeking." He grinned, a wicked, feral twisting of his lips. "Time's running out. Better figure out who you really should be fighting before it's too late."

* * *

He disappeared into the alley, drenched in the shadows cast by the late afternoon sun. Faith had followed Wesley halfway across Sunnydale, through a cemetery or two, across suburban neighborhoods, and into the back alleys of what constituted downtown Hellmouth. He hadn't slowed or wavered from his meandering course across the city, but kept a swift and steady pace through the town.

Easing her head around the corner, Faith looked down the alley, frowning when she discovered it empty. The brick walls surrounding the trash covered alleyway were lined with cardboard boxes and dumpsters, plenty of places for Wes to hide if he had discovered her tailing him. Sliding into the alley, she cautiously made her way over broken bottles and crumpled beer cans, past decomposing pieces of food, by yellowing scraps of newspaper. There were no doors leading into the nearby buildings, no fire escapes for Wesley to have dashed up to give her the slip. He had disappeared.

"Hello, Faith."

Faith gave herself props for not jumping right out of her skin. Even with her enhanced Slayer senses outstretched, she hadn't heard him approach. She brought a sexy, devil may care smirk to her face as she slowly spun and faced Wesley.

"Wes."

She wasn't prepared for the changes that had occurred during the three years since she last saw him. Back then, as he sat tied to the chair, victim to her fucked up mindset and torture therapy, there were still traces of the ineffectual, prissy man who had been her Watcher in Sunnydale. Now, that man was gone, covered in layer upon layer of hardened scar tissue, both physical and mental, and replaced by the tough, cool, and… sexy exterior of mussed hair and an intense blue gaze.

"You don't seem surprised to see me here in Sunnydale, Faith."

"You don't seem surprised to see me out of prison, Wes."

One corner of his mouth curved into a grin. "I shouldn't be. I'm the one that suggested you be released from prison."

"The man with the motive. But not with the means."

"No. Wolfram and Hart was responsible for arranging the necessary paperwork for your release. But then, you already knew this, didn't you?" He walked towards her, blue eyes locked onto her brown, hands plainly in sight next to his thighs. "Lilah told Buffy."

"And Buffy told me." Faith shifted her stance as Wesley approached her, muscles tensing beneath her denim jacket as he stopped before her. "Sleeping with the enemy, Wes? Didn't have you figured as the kinky, twisted type, getting off on trying to kill us. I mean, me I can understand given our past history. But Buffy? She hasn't done jack to you, so what's with the attempted murder?"

His gaze was disconcerting in its steadiness, burning into her with a fierce strength Faith never knew Wes possessed. "Everything is not always as it seems, Faith," he said softly, the cold arrogance in his voice momentarily replaced with a softer, richer cadence. "They will be waiting for you at the house tonight. You need to be prepared."

"What?" She watched him turn and walk away from her, hands shoved into the pockets of his dark coat. She took a few steps after him as she said, "Why should I believe you?"

Wesley stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her. "Who do you think left those pictures of Lilah at Wolfram and Hart for Buffy to find?" Off her silence, he continued, "You need to get back to the others. You don't have much time. It starts tonight."

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