Giles stirred and felt pain shoot through his head, forcing a painful groan from his mouth. After a moment he mastered himself and gingerly sat up, immediately regretting it when his stomach threatened to relieve him of the ice-cream he had recently consumed. Ice-cream...Buffy!
The realisation of what had probably happened sent a bolt of fear straight through him. With a growing sense of dread he scanned the area but could see no sign of his blonde Slayer. The former Watcher forced himself to stand, despite the pain in his head and the rolling of his stomach, and move into a staggering walk. Although the ground wavered and greyed in front of him he sped up to a lurching trot and made his unsteady way back to the house. It took him a moment to find his keys and even longer to fumble them into the lock but finally he was in. He went straight to the living room where the Gang was still playing Pictionary and he leaned against the doorjamb, gasping for breath. It took several attempts but he finally managed to clear his throat and rasp, "They got Buffy!"
There was shocked silence in the room for a moment and then Willow rushed to his side and helped him into a chair.
"Xander - get some ice. Amy - find a cloth and the first aid kit, I think it's still in the basement. Anya - shut up," Willow order quickly.
For a moment the other teenagers were too startled by Willow's take-charge tone to do anything. Until she shouted "Move!" that is.
Then everyone scampered to carry out her orders as fast as possible. Within minutes Giles had a cold compress on the lump that was gradually swelling on the back of his head and the cut beneath had been cleaned up. The Gang gathered tensely and looked at his, faces a mixture of fear and anticipation.
"What happened?" Willow asked.
"I'm not sure," Giles began as he tried to put his scattered thoughts in order. "We were walking home, I was d-distracted and then I woke up alone in the street."
"Fine Watcher you are," Xander said bitterly. "How could you let yourself get distracted?"
"Xander!" Willow immediately reprimanded him.
"He has a point," Anya said. "He knows how much danger she's in."
"Anya!" Willow said even more sharply.
"Willow, they're right," Giles said wearily. "I knew the danger, but Buffy surprised me and before I knew it she was gone. I let them get her. We should never have gone out there without protection."
"We all thought the danger was gone," Willow tried to reassure him. "We all got lax and now Buffy's gone. It's time to stop blaming ourselves and start trying to find her - before they take her to England."
"How can we be sure it's the Council?" Amy asked, something nagging at the back of her mind.
"We can't," Giles said, "but it's a reasonable assumption. Amy, Willow - do you know any locator spells or tracking spells?"
"There's that one we were trying out yesterday," Amy offered.
"Didn't you make a pig yesterday?" Anya asked.
Willow flushed slightly. "Yeah, but that was 'cause the symbols weren't drawn properly. I'll draw this time and Amy can get the herbs."
Amy nodded and immediately ran upstairs. Everyone else began to make their way to the basement.
"I can't believe you guys stopped the Ascension," Anya mused. "But bacon might be nice for breakfast."
***
Buffy could not tell where she was. The van had made several sharp turns but there were no windows in the back compartment so she could only guess at the direction they had taken. Finally the sounds of the engine had begun to echo and then they ceased and there was a loud 'clang' behind them, so she assumed they were parked in a warehouse of some description. The Watchers had left her alone in the van, chained to the bench, and try as she might Buffy could not break free.
There was something the blonde girl had never told her friends. As a Slayer is seemed a little silly to be afraid of the dark and she was usually perfectly all right about it. But the mixture of total dark in the van and the small space was unnerving her. She felt as though the unseen walls were pressing against her and a light sheen of sweat broke out on her face. Giles, you had better be using your Watcher brainpowers to rescue me, Buffy thought, aware that she was shivering slightly. I swear, when you rescue me you are gonna have the reward of your life.
She kept the image of his beloved face, with his green eyes and quirky grin, firmly in the front of her mind as she tried to stave off the rising panic.
***
Giles paced the basement as Willow and Amy carefully cast their spell. They had taken one look at his panicked face and declared that they needed no help whatsoever so he was left to pace worriedly. She has to be all right. She has to be all right, he repeated to himself over and over. If they've hurt her or our baby, so help me God I'll kill them all.
"So mote it be," Willow finally intoned.
Immediately Giles was behind them staring at the map that sat in the middle of the circle the two witches had drawn. At first nothing seemed to be happening but then a spot of light gradually began to shine on the map. It was only tiny, and it had a faint greenish tinge, but after a minute it was firmly shining above the warehouse district near the docks. More importantly it was fixed above a certain warehouse at the farthest end of the docks.
"She's there," Willow said unnecessarily.
"What are we waiting for?" Xander asked. "Saddle up, hi ho Silver and away!"
"We mustn't rush into anything," Willow stated seriously. "We don't know how many there are or...or anything about the place!"
"For once I'll have to agree with Xander," Giles said, a slightly pained look on his face. "We should go immediately. There's no telling how soon they'll be able to find a boat to take Buffy to England, and if I know the Council they've probably already got one and are just waiting for the right tide."
He began moving around the room, collecting weapons into a bag, and after a moment's hesitation the others followed suit. When they were fully equipped they stopped to make one final check on the map. During their preparation time Willow had found a map of the warehouses on the Internet and she carefully compared it with the location of the light on their larger map.
"Looks like...warehouse 11D. Uh...yeah...we should be able to...wait!" Willow exclaimed suddenly. "She's moving. Where are they taking her now?"
"Can you transport this thing?" Giles asked quickly.
Willow and Amy exchanged glances before Willow let out a breath and said, "No."
"Damn!" Giles began to pace again. "If only we had some way of checking on the map and leaving it here."
Anya suddenly grinned and fished around in her bag. In moments she was holding up a mobile phone and Xander was beaming at her proudly.
"One of you can stay here and give me readings as we go," she said, basking in Xander's approval.
Everyone in the group looked at each other, assessing. Finally Amy spoke up, "I'll be base. If anything goes wrong with the spell I should be able to repair it and you guys probably know the layout of those docks better than me."
That agreed on, they were soon speeding towards the ocean in Xander's car.
***
The silence in the van was broken by sudden cries outside in the warehouse. Buffy heard crunches and the racket of something smashing all accompanied by loud, human, shouts of pain. The noise went on for a couple of minutes and then there was silence. Now Buffy was shaking from her own fear, and the fear of what was out there. Don't let them hurt my baby, she pleaded silently.
Without warning the door of the van was violently wrenched off its hinges and something peered inside. It was too dark for Buffy to make out details but its silhouette did not look human. Most humans were not that big, and they certainly did not have curling horns protruding from their foreheads.
A huge hand reached inside and grasped the chain that was bolted to the floor of the van, snapping it as though it was string. Buffy found herself being pulled forward and falling awkwardly out of the van. Large, clawed feet were planted in front of her eyes and there was a reek of rotting fish that made her gag. Oh, please don't let me vomit into this gag. That would be beyond ick, she thought.
Something grunted above her and then pain exploded in her head followed by blessed darkness.
*finis*