Xander parked the car out of sight several warehouses down from 11D and the Gang sat in silence for a moment.
"Is Buffy still moving?" Giles asked Anya after a moment.
There was a brief conversation behind him and then Anya said, "Yeah. Amy thinks they've moved into the sewers."
"Damn!" Giles cursed.
"What's the plan G-man?" Xander asked.
Worryingly Giles did not seem to notice the hated nickname and Xander paled when he realised that. Instead the older man said, "We'll go to the warehouse - see if there's any clue as to where they've taken her."
"We're just going to walk into a warehouse full of Watchers? Who are probably armed if they're expecting to deal with an angry Slayer?" Anya asked.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?" Giles answered her.
"No, just checking to make sure I heard properly."
"We're not totally defenceless," Willow protested. "We've got weapons and I've got a spell prepared."
"A crossbow, some stakes and some holy water will probably intimidate some vampires but are you really going to use them on humans?" asked Anya.
"We'll use whatever it takes to get Buffy back," Giles said and he got out of the car.
They walked silently through the industrial park, keeping to the shadows as much as possible and feeling acutely nervous every time they had to cross exposed ground. Giles led, armed with a loaded crossbow, and Willow and Xander followed close behind. The redheaded witch clutched a vial of blue liquid in her hand, muttering under her breath as she went, and Xander carried a piece of two by four like a club. Bringing up the rear, Anya looked the least intimidated of them all and she now had the mobile phone strapped to her waist with an earphone on one ear and the tiny microphone pinned to the lapel of her jacket. They approached warehouse 11D and Giles signalled them to crouch behind a skip against the wall. The dying light of the evening sun threw long shadows over them and the air was so still they could hear the gravel crunch faintly as a bird landed nearby.
"This feels wrong," Xander breathed. "Where are the lookouts? This is too easy."
"It's too quiet," Willow agreed.
"Maybe they abandoned it," Anya said quietly.
"No, they would want to keep a base near the docks," Giles whispered. "It's the only way they could get Buffy out of the country undetected. "
"Maybe they just forgot to set guards," Willow offered hopefully.
Xander and Giles exchanged glances but it was the older man who spoke, "Unlikely. They may be incompetent at times but they wouldn't be that careless. As much as I may hate to admit it, Xander's right. Something is wrong."
"Do we have a plan B?" the younger boy asked.
"No," said Giles.
"Next time, we're having a plan B before we get to this stage," Xander vowed.
Giles stood and the others followed suit. Willow checked her vial of liquid, which was now glowing faintly, one last time and Xander hefted his makeshift club nervously while Giles checked his crossbow. Anya filed her nails with a bored expression. The armed Gang lined themselves up in front of the wide doors to the warehouse and at a nod from Giles the redheaded witch threw her vial at the doors.
There was a dull explosion and blue smoke plumed out. The small rescue party marched through the now destroyed doorway and into the smoke filled warehouse. The smoke from Willow's spell was thick and obscured their vision but it was not choking and it smelled faintly of lavender. Their vision may have been clouded but there was no disguising the deathly silence in the large building. No one came out to challenge them; there was no sound, not even the faint sounds of breathing, and none of them could feel anything moving. The absolute silence was more chilling than two dozen armed Watchers would have been.
They all stood still while they waited for the smoke to clear. Gradually the air became thinner and they could make out hazy shapes. A large, hulking object in the middle of the warehouse was probably the van. Next to it was a lumpy shape on the floor. Another lumpy mass slumped against a nearby wall and as the scent of lavender faded it was replaced by the coppery scent of blood.
The smoke cleared completely and the reddish light of the setting sun shone through the window set high in the walls. At first Willow thought the splashes of red on the walls were reflections of the light. Until she looked more closely at the slumped figure against the nearby wall. She put a hand to her mouth and tried to stop her stomach rebelling. A glance at her companions told her she was not the only one struggling. Anya had a disgusted look on her face while Xander was distinctly green. Giles looked pale and he swallowed rapidly several times.
"My god," he breathed.
Willow looked at the broken figure slumped against the van and rushed from the building before she lost her battle with her stomach.
***
**The sun shone down on the meadow and the faint breeze brought the scent of grass and clover. Buffy looked at the picnic spread out on the rug in front of her and leaned back against the firm, warm chest behind her. She heard shouts and laughter and turned her head to see Xander jump and catch a yellow Frisbee.
"Gotta do better than that," he teased Willow as he threw it back to her.
A warm handle began rubbing circles on her stomach over the barely visible lump and the Slayer looked down to see Giles' familiar hand with its gold band on his fourth finger. Buffy closed her eyes and smiled contentedly. She had the nagging feeling that there was something she was supposed to be doing but it flew away on the gentle breeze like a butterfly.
"Nice life ya got here B. I'm impressed."
Buffy opened her eyes to see Faith sitting on the other side of the rug. She wore a pretty floral dress and the hilt of a dagger protruded from her stomach, but she was smiling so Buffy could not worry.
"I missed you," she said. "Do you want a sandwich?"
"Can't stay B. I'm still in a coma, remember?"
"Oh, yeah."
"You know this isn't real, right?"
"But I want it to be real," Buffy protested.
Faith grinned at her. "You and me both, girlfriend. The place where you really are...it isn't nice. But you have to go back."
"I like it here."
"Here's great for a while, but it gets so boring after a while. I'm itching for some action."
There was something wrong with the whole scenario but Buffy was so comfortable she did not want to move. She had Giles' arms around her, her friends were there and she could feel her baby growing inside - why should she leave?
"B, you gotta go. I'll be there sooner than you think and then we can party. It'll be wicked cool."
Buffy nodded reluctantly and looked down at the arms wrapped around her. It was no longer Giles' hand. Instead it was a smooth pale hand with a claddagh ring on the middle finger. The chest behind her was no longer warm and comforting; it was cold and hard. She pulled away with a start and turned to see Angel staring back at her, his face contorted with fangs and his eyes glowing yellow.
"Get away from me," she demanded, hugging the baby she was now holding tightly to her.
The vampire lunged and Buffy scrambled wildly away from him. A hulking, horned shape appeared from the nearby trees and began lurching towards them. Buffy looked around, frightened, but Xander and Willow carried on playing without noticing anything was amiss. There was no sign of Giles anywhere.
"B, give her to me. I'll look after her."
"But-"
"There's no time B! This isn't a Tupperware party. I'll give her back when it's safe. I promise."
Buffy reluctantly nodded and the baby disappeared, immediately reappearing in Faith's arms. The dark Slayer smiled and bent her head to kiss the tiny baby's forehead. Angel lunged for Buffy again and she stood, holding up the stake she suddenly found in her hand. Clouds raced over the sky above and obscured the sun so the world became twilight and a cold wind blew over Buffy carrying with it the charnel-house stench of approaching death. An ugly snarl sounded from the vampire and an answering roar came from the direction of the lumbering demon. Xander and Willow disappeared and the blonde Slayer began to tremble.
"What's happening?" she asked Faith.
"He's coming," the dark Slayer replied fearfully. "You have to stop him."
"Who? Who's coming?"
"The World Eater. He's gonna eat us all up."
The huge demon was closer now and Buffy could see his eyes glowing red like hot coals. She felt a sudden weight on her back and reached around to find an empty sword sheath strapped there.
"I need a weapon!" she shouted at her sister Slayer, but the dark girl did not hear her.
Angel snarled again and moved towards her, but he suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. The demon roared again and Angel turned to it and roared in answer. Both demons ignored the Slayers and began circling each other.
"Hey B, that's a wicked cool sword ya got there. Can I see it?" Faith asked.
"You're looking after the baby," Buffy answered, fingering the sword that she now held.
Faith looked down and seemed surprised to find she was still holding the baby. "So I am."
Buffy felt warm arms encircle her waist from behind and she knew it was Giles.
"Swap?" Faith asked, holding out the sleeping baby.
"Ok."
The sword disappeared from Buffy's hand and the baby began to float towards her. She reached out towards it and heard Faith say distantly, "Shoulda been there, B, quite a ride."
The world disappeared into white light . . .**
Buffy woke to find herself being carried through dark tunnels by a creature wearing concealing robes. Her head hurt and the jostling as the creature walked made it worse. Each step also made her nausea worse and she groaned faintly. Foul breath washed over her face as her kidnapper spoke to her in a harsh, unintelligible language. She sucked in a breath as her stomach threatened to rebel and let it out when it made the pain in her head worsened. The edge of her vision began to grey and the roof above spun wildly. A flash of memory - a meadow in sunlight - came and went quickly. The world lurched and went black.
***
"She's not here," Giles announced.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Xander asked quietly.
Willow looked up from the papers she was studying. "I'm going with a good thing. If she's not here she wasn't killed here."
Giles stood from where he had been crouched beside one of the bodies and rubbed his forehead exhaustedly. "Whatever happened, they were killed quickly and brutally. The very fact that they are all dead and nothing else seems to be missing would lead me to assume they came here for something."
"And that they found it," Xander added.
"Quite. Whoever did this," the Watcher gestured around the room, "probably took Buffy with them for a reason."
"So what'll we do?" asked Xander.
"Anya, is Buffy still moving?"
The former demon conferred quietly for a minute and then said, "Amy thinks she is. Apparently the spell is weakening so it's a little hard to tell for sure."
"There's nothing here to say what might have happened, apart from the obvious," Willow said, putting down her papers and joining the others. "As far as I can make out they intended to take Buffy to England on a boat that would have left tonight."
"So we're back to square one then," Xander sighed.
"I think we'll have to go home and try to strengthen the spell," Giles said tiredly. "I'll see if I can find something in one of my books while we do so."
"I'll have a look on the Internet and see if there's anyone else who might want to kidnap a Slayer," Willow added as they began to walk through the twilight to the car.
"I'll drop you guys off and then go beat Willy up," Xander offered.
"What can I do?" Anya asked.
Willow looked at her, marvelling that the normally slightly selfish demon seemed disappointed not to have anything to do in the plan. "You're a thousand years old, right? I'm sure Giles could use your knowledge."
"He could?"
"Another pair of eyes that understand old languages would be helpful," Giles assured her.
"Thank you."
***
Willow headed straight for the telephone as soon as she walked through the door and Giles and Anya went straight to the basement. Amy was sitting at the table in front of the map with an exhausted expression.
"The spell ran out ten minutes ago," she said tiredly. "I tried to reinforce it but I don't have the strength. We'll have to recast it tomorrow."
"It's all right," Giles said. "At least we were able to track her for a while. She should have stopped moving by the time you can try again. Why don't you get some sleep, hmm?"
Amy nodded, and walked heavily up the stairs without another word. She passed Willow as the redheaded witch came down the stairs and gave her a half smile before walking on.
"I called Cordelia," Willow announced as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "She and Wesley are coming down as soon as they can. He thinks he may know who has Buffy."
"Did she say anything else?" asked the Watcher, hope gleaming in his eyes for the first time in several hours.
"No. Just that there may be more happening than we're aware of."
The hours seemed to pass more slowly than the past four years had. Giles alternated between researching, pacing and chafing at the delays. Anya read solidly and determinedly, proving to know more than any of them had realised and Willow typed like a dervish trying to find even a scrap of knowledge somewhere out in the electronic jungle.
A loud banging at the door startled them all and Giles muttered "Finally!" as he practically ran up to the front door. Willow however, who had been in the kitchen making coffee, beat him to it and pulled open the door.
"Hello cutie," a familiar British voice drawled.
*finis*