The Seventh SlayerBy Kantayra
Chapter Twenty TwoEveryone was in chaos by the time Ajaya finally burst into Devonshire house. She leapt back against the wall with a squeak when several members of Gamma Team ran past, shouting about Mages and Witches and attacks and the like.
Ajaya’s brow furrowed with concern, and she ran into the living room to find Alex, Buffy, Spike, and Xeris all conversing with Fletcher over the videoscreen that had been set up above the mantelpiece, frantically going over damage reports.
“What’s going on?” Ajaya asked breathlessly, dreading the answer.
Alex spun around to look at her. “Thank god,” he breathed a sigh of relief, “you’re all right. Fletcher,” he turned back to the screen, “we’ve found Ajaya. The Slayers weren’t attacked.”
Fletcher looked relieved as well. “What about Isabelle?” he demanded.
“She’s outside,” Ajaya pointed over her shoulder. “What’s going on?” she asked again.
“Someone attacked our Witches,” Alex responded. “They’re all in magically-induced comas.”
“Someone, as in the Watchers’ Council,” Buffy growled under her breath.
Spike wrapped one arm around her shoulder and stroked her hair in a comforting manner. “We’ll get ‘em back, Slayer,” he assured her. “Even if we ‘ave to kill every one of those wankers’ Mages to do so…”
Buffy spared him a small, grateful smile.
“Willow?” The implications of what this latest attack meant were just starting to sink in for Ajaya. “Aida?”
“Both out,” Xeris said grimly.
Ajaya’s eyes widened. “Oh god, what about Lily? Sh-She was sick, and…” she trailed off, not wanting to think that the worst had happened.
“Lily was spared,” Fletcher replied. “Whatever this attack was, it was targeted entirely at those with magical abilities. Given Lily’s current…er, handicap, she must not have registered.”
“We have to find out how they did this,” Buffy insisted. “Reverse it right now!”
“We don’t know where the Watchers are anymore,” Fletcher sighed. “We’ve got leads all over the world, but… We have no idea if we’re running against some kind of timetable or what. Frankly, we just weren’t prepared for anything of this magnitude. Even if we do find a counterspell, all of our casters are gone. We’ll have to hire out independents, I suppose, and then…”
Ajaya stopped listening as Fletcher continued to outline what needed to be done in the background. It was now or never.
“I may know a way to find the Watchers,” she said calmly.
Everyone in the room instantly turned their attention to her.
She gulped. “I – we, Isabelle and I, that is – have long known that someone here at SCBI is working for the Watchers in secret,” she began to explain.
“What?!” Alex exclaimed in horror.
“Impossible!” Fletcher said simultaneously.
“Never!” was Buffy’s contribution.
Ajaya stood up to her full four feet eleven inches and tried to look authoritative. “Isabelle has had several Slayer visions,” she insisted. “We’ve been investigating the matter ever since the attack on SCBI Central.”
“A traitor?!” Buffy still wasn’t buying it.
Spike rested his hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “People ‘ave their reasons for it, luv,” he reminded her.
She bit her lip and nodded. “Who?” she demanded.
“M-Monica and Nicky,” Ajaya answered nervously.
Stunned silence.
“Uh-uh,” Spike shook his head vehemently, “’ve known Nicky since the day ‘e dug himself outta the ground!”
“And Monica!” Buffy exclaimed. “She’s my niece!”
“No,” Ajaya said calmly, “actually, she’s not. W-We think that she’s a plant of the Watchers. She’s just been pretending to be your niece all these years. And, as for Nicky…I think Monica’s got him under her thumb. I think they’re together, and she’s dragged him into this.”
Buffy laughed. “This is so not the time for practical jokes!” she accused. “And, of course, Monica’s my niece!”
“Do you really know that?” Ajaya demanded. “Before she showed up here, when was the last time you’d seen her?”
Buffy frowned. “I stopped by for her birthday when she was six…” she answered thoughtfully.
“And you’re absolutely positive that the six-year-old kid you saw is the same Monica that’s here today?” Ajaya demanded.
“O-Of course,” Buffy was wavering slightly. “I mean, why would she lie?”
“If she was a spy, she sure would,” Ajaya answered. “Did anyone think to corroborate her story?”
Buffy looked down to intently study Spike’s black-polished nails; Alex began stuttering in disbelief; Fletcher looked thoroughly sheepish and began rubbing hard at his glasses with a small terry cloth.
“I thought not,” Ajaya said quietly. “Now, Isabelle and I just caught Monica and Nicky contacting the Watchers. If we get there fast, the might not have time to erase the log, and we’ll be able to trace their contact.”
Fletcher shut his eyes tight and grabbed the bridge of his nose. “Do it,” he sighed.
“This way,” Ajaya guided them all out into the growing storm…
* * *
“Tell me everything you saw,” Dawn persisted, “even the slightest detail could be important.”
“I didn’t really get a good look at it,” Simon said apologetically. “It just ran me right over. Dark, black…kinda oozy maybe? Like a moving puddle of tar. It didn’t seem to have any real form. And I’m pretty sure it split right in two when it went down the bend.”
Dawn frowned and nodded. “That would explain how the attack was organized so well,” she said thoughtfully. “If one creature divided up and attacked everyone at once…” She turned to the nurse that was attending Lily. “We need to move her out of here. Now.”
“What?” The nurse looked up at her in surprise. “She’s in no condition to be moved. We should wait until after—”
“If we wait until after,” Dawn countered, “this thing, whatever it is, could just split off again and attack her as well. We need to get her away from it first.”
She turned back to Simon. “You go get the van. Make sure its set up to transport wounded personnel.” To the nurse. “You wait here with Lily. Don’t do anything until I get back. I,” she opened the door and stepped outside, “am going to check with Fletcher one last time…”
* * *
“Still there?” Ajaya asked as the group she was leading reached Isabelle.
Isabelle nodded. “They’re inside,” she agreed.
“Good,” Alex agreed. “Isabelle, go back to the house and tell Fletcher that we got them. Ajaya, Xeris, you take the front door. Buffy, Spike, the window. I’ll take the far side just in case they find a way to break out that way.”
Everyone nodded in agreement and moved to their positions.
Isabelle took one last look at the scattering team and ran back to the house. The living room was entirely emptied by the time she reached it, and she made the call to through the videoscreen in peace.
An apologetic-looking Fyarl Demon answered her call. “Fletcher gone,” he said in gruff, overly simplified English. “Help Lily.”
“Lily?” Isabelle cocked her head to one side in confusion.
“Lily sick.”
“Oh,” Isabelle bit her lower lip, “but this is really important. Can’t you just grab him?”
“Fletcher busy with attack.”
“Attack?” Isabelle frowned. “Are we attacking again?”
The Fyarl looked at her like she was a complete moron. “Witches attacked. Witches sick. Fletcher help.”
Isabelle frowned. “When did this happen?” she demanded.
“Just now.”
Isabelle let out a desperate little sigh. “Look, can you just call Fletcher in for a second?” she asked as politely as she could. “This is really, really important…”
“Fletcher not here,” the Fyarl explained patiently. “Fletcher gone. Help Lily. I in charge.”
Isabelle groaned and resigned herself to trying to get the details of the attack from the Fyarl…without any verbs, of course…
* * *
Simon pulled to a halt outside an old abandoned store three miles from SCBI Central. Fletcher and the nurse crawled out the back of the van, rolling out Lily’s stretcher with them, while Dawn and Melissa Harris – who had thankfully been in town for the holidays – clambered out of the front seat, Dawn carrying the small, precious vat with her.
“Let’s get her inside,” Fletcher said calmly, in control like he always was during a crisis.
They quickly set up shop in the deserted back office, and Fletcher had Simon lock up all the doors behind them so they wouldn’t be disturbed.
Dawn set about drawing a pentagram on the floor with the practiced ease of one who had long since learned how to set up the precise angles necessary, while Melissa drew the spirit aspects the intended to summon in the four cardinal directions.
The nurse and Simon carried Lily to the center of the circle when they were done before they backed off to the door to watch the proceedings out of harm’s way.
Fletcher nodded, and he, Dawn, and Melissa formed a triangle around Lily’s unconscious body and small, still-bubbling vat.
“You’re sure they were done?” Melissa asked nervously, releasing her pale blond hair for the purpose of the spell.
Dawn grimaced. “I know they were close,” she admitted. “They were working on the final incantations when they were…” She trailed off and sniffed back the lone tear that had fallen onto her cheek.
“We don’t have any other choice but to try at this point,” Fletcher reminded them both. “I need you both to focus on the matter at hand.”
Dawn instantly pulled herself together, and Melissa gave him a nod of agreement.
“The incantation,” he passed copies out to the two of them.
They read it over several times, recognized it as a basic healing chant with some subtle variations, and quickly learned their parts.
“Piece of cake,” Dawn said with a small smile.
“Let’s begin then,” Fletcher nodded, lighting the candles around them.
Simon and the nurse watched well outside the pentangle as the three not-quite-practicing-magicians closed off the circle. They were both familiar enough with this type of thing to recognize when the wards were set up and when helping spirits were summoned.
Dawn and Melissa continued to chant in the background as Fletcher raised the vat before him, the liquid inside now glowing a dim, blue color. The cadence of the voices in the background rose and fell with a rhythm far beyond to two vessels it was being channeled through, and the air seemed to grow thick with sound as well as fire and incense.
Slowly, Fletcher brought the vat to Lily’s lips, her head held up between Dawn and Melissa. He tipped the liquid in, and as if somehow knowing that this was her last chance, Lily managed to open her parched lips to drink.
The room seemed to fall silently as Lily slowly drank down the entire vat. When she was done, Fletcher wiped her lips carefully and rejoined the chant.
Soon, they had dissolved the magical forces they had summoned and broken the circle once more. After getting an affirmative nod from Fletcher, the nurse entered the magical site once more to check on Lily’s vital signs.
“There’s no change,” she said nervously.
Dawn bit her lip. “It might take a while to take effect,” she suggested.
Fletcher nodded grimly. “All we can do now is wait…” he said resignedly.
* * *
With a loud bang, Ajaya kicked the door in. She and Xeris burst inside, just as Buffy and Spike came crashing in through the window to find…
Monica and Nicolas in a rather compromising position.
They both managed to make little squealing noises while scrambling for their clothes, and everyone offered them the brief courtesy of not looking.
“Haven’t you people ever heard of knocking?!” Nicolas exclaimed, his face vamped out in rage.
Spike growled right back at him.
“And what exactly were you doing in here?” Buffy demanded. “Besides…you know…” she added, slightly embarrassed.
Nicolas frowned. “What do you mean?”
Behind him, Monica bit her lip and refused to meet anyone’s eyes.
“I mean this,” Ajaya stepped forward and picked up the videoscreen they’d left on the table.
“You’re got just one chance to explain,” Buffy informed them through tight lips, her voice deadly serious.
“What are you talking about?” Nicolas blurted out. “We’re not allowed to have a videoscreen now?”
“I think,” Spike said coldly, “that what the ladies want to know ‘s who exactly you were callin’.”
Monica suddenly looked very nervous, and Nicolas wrapped a protective arm around her. “That’s none of your business,” he hissed, flashing his fangs.
“I’d say it’s very much our business,” Buffy countered, taking the screen from Ajaya. “Whaddaya say we just hit redial here…” Her finger hovered over the button.
“No!” Monica exclaimed, reaching out frantically for the screen.
“Then you admit it?” Buffy said in disbelief and horror. “All this time I trusted you, and you were just lying to me?!”
“I-I thought…”
“What? That you could just worm your way into my family?” Buffy demanded.
“I’m sorry,” Monica began to cry softly.
Nicolas was on his feet in an instant, his chest still bare. “Oh, like you’re one to talk?” he countered. “It’s not like the two of us have done anything worse than you two!”
“Oi!” Spike exclaimed. “That was completely different! No one got ‘urt that time!”
Nicolas and Monica stared at him, blinked, turned to look at each other, blinked again…
“Wh-What are you talking about?” Monica asked nervously. “No one’s gotten hurt…”
“There are several hundred Witches out there that say otherwise,” Ajaya countered.
The accused pair looked truly confused now. “W-Witches?” Monica asked, baffled. “What are you talking about?”
“The Watchers’ Council?” Ajaya provided.
“Watchers?” Nicolas looked equally puzzled. “What do they have to do with us?”
“Y-You’ve been helping them,” Ajaya began nervously, “giving them information…”
“What?!” Nicolas and Monica exclaimed in outrage simultaneously.
“Wait a minute,” Buffy shook her head, “you’re denying this now?”
“Of course, we’re denying it!” Monica’s fury overcame her embarrassment. “You know we’d never do anything like that!”
“B-But you just admitted it,” Buffy insisted.
“Admitted to what?” Monica demanded. “Yeah, I admitted to having an affair with a vampire behind everyone’s back. Yeah, we’ve been sneaking out together and lying through our teeth. But we would never side with those…those wankers!”
“The videoscreen?” Ajaya asked, not sure what to think now.
Monica sighed. “Fine, check it if you want. It’s just my dad. Nicolas has been trying to help me get the courage up to tell him. I-I wanted him to know first since…I mean, get the worst over with first, y’know?”
“Then you are the real Monica?” Buffy demanded.
Monica looked at her like she’d just grown an extra head. “Of course,” she said, perplexed, “who else would I be?”
“Oops,” Ajaya said guiltily off of Buffy’s look.
“If ‘s not them,” Spike pointed out to Buffy softly, “then who is it?”
* * *
Isabelle yawned and waited in the living room for SCBI to call back so she could deliver her message to Fletcher. Absentmindedly, she swung her legs back and forth over the edge of the table, kicking at the couch back as she did so.
She hated waiting.
But, fortunately – or unfortunately, she didn’t have to wait long, because at that moment something struck her hard from behind, and then…the world was black…
* * *
The change was so sudden, Dawn didn’t even see it. She had been so busy packing up the tools for their spell that when the hand grasped onto her arm, she screeched and practically jumped out of her skin.
The entire party turned in surprise at Dawn’s exclamation.
The cause of their surprise slowly sat up, shaking her head.
“What’s going on?” Lily asked. “Where are my Moms?”
* * *
Isabelle awoke in a dark dungeon and groaned. “This never used to happen to me before I was the Slayer,” she complained, rattling the chains that bound her.
“Precisely the point,” a voice agreed from the shadows outside the narrow circle of the torchlight.
Isabelle felt a strange shiver of déjà vu creep down her spine at the voice. “H-How did you manage it?” she demanded, confused. “W-We caught you…”
“Caught the wrong person,” the figure slowly materialized from the shadows, so that their form was visible but their face was still in shadow. On the left breast of their uniform were the gold letters SCBI.
Isabelle frowned, and the figure stepped into the light so that she could identify it.
“It-It’s you!” she exclaimed in disbelief…
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