"What if I was able to show you a vampire? Would you believe then?"
"Only if I could convince myself that it wasn't a fake, which would mean running a full battery of tests, not to mention an autopsy."
Mulder threw his hands up in frustration. "Are you saying that you want to do an autopsy on a living vampire?"
"I was under the impression that vampires were already dead." Mulder shot her a nasty look. Hiding a smile, she continued, "But an autopsy on a completely dead vampire would work just as well."
"But they turn to dust when they are killed, so the only way that you could do any of this is if it is still ready and able to kill."
"That's one reason why this is such a great story. It can't be proved wrong."
Mulder gave up. She had that look, the one that said "I am not going to lose this argument if we have to stay here until doomsday." Tonight they would go hunting with Buffy. Maybe that would convince his skeptical partner.
Scully knew that she had won this round, but she also knew Mulder, and he was up to something. However, until she knew what he was planning, she couldn't get out of it, so she just acknowledged her victory and went back into the library.
OPERATION'S OFFICE
SECTION ONE HEADQUARTERS
JULY 15, 1998
2:14 PM
Madeline walked into the office and immediately started her report. "Vampires can be killed with wooden stakes, fire, decapitation, and sunlight. In theory enough holy water would also kill them, but short of full immersion the water is just painful. Right now there are approximately 200 vampires in Sunnydale, and they are split into several different factions."
"How is a vampire created?"
"A person is almost drained of blood, then is permitted to drink some of the vampire's blood. Not everyone who is killed by a vampire will become one."
With an obvious look of relief on his face, Ops asked the most important question. "Will we be able to get rid of them?"
Madeline smiled. "I think so. However, I do want to know how the Giles group is involved in all of this. I suggest that you have Michael and Nikita find out the rest of the details while we work up a mission."
Ops smiled. He was the only person in the Section that didn't feel required to follow Madeline's suggestions. Of course, he usually did, simply because they were almost always the best course of action. She was a remarkable woman. "By the way, how did the new units work?"
Madeline smiled again, and this time the smile made it all the way to her eyes. "Quite well. I do need to try it on a few expendables of course, but I think that they are going to turn out nicely."
Ops nodded his acknowledgment, then called Birkoff in to give him Michael and Nikita's new orders.
*****************************
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY
JULY 15, 1998
4:30 PM
After hours of researching, everyone was tired and discouraged. There was very little to show for their labors. Giles had managed to discover that Hell wasn't all that big, which was a good sign, but they still weren't any closer to finding a way to protect whoever when in, nor how they were going to find Angel.
Mulder and Scully left a couple of hours earlier, after making plans to meet Buffy at the library just before sundown. Scully was going to get some rest, knowing that it would be a long night ahead. Mulder was going to have a talk with the Lone Gunmen, that trio of paranoid computer nerds, who could (and quite often did) hack into the CIA, F.B.I., N.S.A., and the White House, all before breakfast. He was eager to pass on his new knowledge.
After they left, Willow passed on all of the information that she had learned when she "accidentally" hacked into the F.B.I. "Agent Mulder is a profiler, which means that he builds a description of a criminal's personality and background from the crime scenes. Agent Scully is, as they said, a doctor, but she doesn't practice anymore. Usually she does the autopsies in all of their cases. They have a pretty high closure rate, especially since all of their cases are supposed to be unexplainable. Also, the two of them spend more time in the hospital than the rest of the F.B.I. combined. Amnesia, killer viruses, comas, concussion, bullet wounds, you name it, they've done it."
Willow looked straight at Giles. "They use unorthodox methods, and for some reason, they get away with it. I couldn't find out why, but I do know that they have the protection of some very powerful people. Are you sure that we can trust them?"
"Yes." There was no uncertainty in Giles' voice. Willow was satisfied.
Buffy was starting to look tired. A month and a half of nightmares had taken its toll, and now that she was among friends, she just wanted to sleep, maybe forever. Also, she was trying to cope with the fact that she still might be able to save Angel, and her exhausted body just wasn't up to the emotional roller coaster that the news sent her on. Giles told her to go home, promising to call her if they discovered anything important.
The rest of the gang decided to call it a night, still no closer to getting rid of the vampires than they were the night before. However, as last night's attack on Mulder had taught them, it was important to be home by nightfall. Now was not the time to start taking chances.
They were so focused on their various tasks that none of them noticed the two people watching them.
SECTION ONE HEADQUARTERS
JULY 15, 1998
4:36 PM
The intercom next to Operations beeped, and Birkoff's voice came through. "Sir? Michael and Nikita are on the monitor. They are ready to give their report on the kids."
Ops smiled at that. Birkoff wasn't much older than those "kids". Of course, he'd seen a lot more. "I'm on my way."
**************************
"Apparently, the Giles group spends its free time killing vampires. They had a meeting at the library today, and they were attempting to plan a full-scale attack, but didn't get very far. There also seems to be another issue that they are worried about, something about a vampire with a soul being caught in Hell."
Ops narrowed his eyes. What was this? "What do you mean a vampire with a soul? And how could it be caught in Hell?"
"It appears that this vampire, named Angel, was cursed by a gypsy clan. The curse gave him his soul back. Then, he lost it again. I'm not sure how that happened, but it had something to do with Summers. Then Angel opened a portal to Hell. The only way to close the portal was to lock Angel inside, and that's what Summers did, but not before the rest of the Giles group restored his soul."
"That doesn't even make any sense! Are you trying to tell me that this group of children is capable of removing and giving out souls at will?"
Michael looked uncomfortable. He didn't like working on partial information. "I don't know. We would probably have to bring one of them in to find out."
"Well then, bring one of them in." Noticing Michael's hesitation, "What is it?"
"If the Giles group is helping to remove the vampires, I don't know how much we should weaken it. These creatures are stronger than me," Ops caught the unspoken "even" in front of "me" and smirked, "and yet this group of untrained children are managing to beat them. They must be working as a team, and there doesn't appear to be any unnecessary links."
Ops turned that over a bit in his head. Michael had a good point, but they had to know what was going on. Looking at the person sitting across from his desk, Ops told Michael. "Tell the Giles group about Section One."
Michael's eyes widened visibly. Considering his usual iron control over his expressions, he was very shocked indeed. "Excuse me?"
Normally Ops wouldn't have even considered explaining
himself. But this action was almost unprecedented in the history
of Section One.
"If they managed to keep the existence of vampires a
secret for this long, I think that they will be able to keep quiet
about the Section. If not, they sound like they would make
good material for future agents. We need them to know about
us so that we can coordinate our efforts against the vampires."
Having put on his mask of indifference again, Michael
simply nodded.
Ops decided that now was the best time to drop the next
bombshell. "There is one more thing. Currently, there are two
F.B.I. agents in Sunnydale investigating the strange activities
going on." Poor Michael. He was so surprised that he showed it.
Two facial expressions in one day. He must be exhausted.
"One of the agents happens to be friends with the
librarian. However, these agents are known for their outlandish
theories, so chances are good that they will simply be labeled as
paranoid if they ever speak about the Section to anyone. They
investigate paranormal occurrences, so they might be able to
help with the attack as well. Report back as soon as you have
spoken with them."
Ops clicked off the monitor and looked at the man sitting
across from him. The man lit a cigarette and studied Ops
through the smoke.
***************************
Nikita just sat there in shock. "Michael what the fuck is
going on?"
"I don't know. But we have to get the Giles gang and the
F.B.I. agents all in the same place, so we had better get started."
Poor Michael. He looked frazzled. Nikita considered
taking a picture of him to use as blackmail, then decided not to.
If she ever tried to use the picture, he'd probably kill her.
Literally.
Walking up behind him, Nikita laid her hand on his
shoulder and lightly squeezed it. Then she left to get changed.
When he was sure that she wasn't looking, Michael put
his hand where hers had been and left it there, imagining that
she was still touching him.
THE BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS MOTEL
Mulder had finished talking to the Gunmen a few
minutes ago, and was typing up his notes when the phone rang.
Without looking, he grabbed it. "Mulder."
"Agent Mulder, I have important information regarding
the vampires." Mulder's head snapped up.
"Who is this?"
"Not now. Meet me in front of Sunnydale High School
in thirty minutes and bring your partner. Don't be late." With
that, the caller hung up.
Mulder stared at the phone for a couple of seconds, then
headed for Scully's room.
BUFFY SUMMER'S RESIDENCE
"Ms. Summers. I have important information regarding
the vampires."
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"Not now. Meet me in front of Sunnydale High School in
twenty-eight minutes. Don't be late."
Twenty-eight minutes?
SUNNYDALE HIGH SCHOOL
Michael and Nikita watched the small group of people
milling about on the front lawn of the school. "Michael, I only
count seven. We're missing one."
"It's the boy, Xander. Are you sure you called him?"
"Probably it wouldn't matter anyway, since I'm sure that
they called each other right after I hung up, but yes, I did call
him."
Just then, the missing member joined the group. Michael
looked at Nikita. "Ready?" She nodded. "Start sequencing."
Nikita ran from her hiding place behind the shrubbery
around to the back of the group, staying in the shadows and
hiding when possible. Michael watched carefully with his
binoculars. When Nikita was behind the group, he stepped out
of the bushes and walked towards the crowd.
*************************
Scully looked up to see a very sexy, very dangerous
looking man dressed in all black walk towards them. She
nudged Mulder and pointed the man out. Mulder shifted so that
he was behind Scully, and reached for his weapon. Just then, he
heard a *click* and felt the barrel of a gun at the back of his
neck. A woman's voice said, "Guns, please." Trying to remain
calm, Mulder passed over his gun, and Scully did the same.
The blond woman looked at Mulder and held out her hand. He
sighed and gave her his backup gun as well. Suddenly, sounds
of a fight started behind them, and Nikita turned around to one
of the most unusual sights that she had ever seen in her life.
There was Michael in a fistfight with a girl. Not that that
was all that rare, but the girl was *winning*. Nikita's jaw
dropped. Michael was one of the best, if not *the* best,
hand-to-hand fighters in the Section. He could defeat most men
with one hand behind his back and with his feet tied. Nikita had
trained with him for years now, and she still couldn't last more
than a couple of seconds. And this teenager was beating the
crap out of him. Okay, so maybe that was a overstatement.
Actually Michael was holding his own. But for Michael
"holding his own" equaled losing.
While Nikita was distracted, Mulder grabbed her, and
her instinct took over. Nikita rammed her elbow into Mulder's
stomach, and as he doubled over she slammed her knee into his
face. His partner looked on in shock, but Nikita still had the
guns, so all Scully could do was patch Mulder up. Nikita
looked down at the agents, and said "I'm sorry, that wasn't
supposed to happen. We're here to help you."
Scully looked at her angrily, "Well then, why did you
ambush us?"
"There are eight of you and only two of us. Those aren't
exactly even odds, and it's never a good idea to go into a
situation as the underdog. All we wanted to do was talk, then
we would have given your weapons back."
"And we're supposed to believe that?"
"You believe what you want to Agent Scully, but that is
the truth."
"How do you know my name? Who do you work for?"
Nikita looked back at Michael. He was getting tired,
while the girl's punches were still as quick and strong as when
she started. As Nikita watched, Buffy landed a strong blow on
Michael's jaw. He wasn't going to last much longer. She looked
back at the F.B.I. agents. "Tell you what. I'll surrender if you
get that girl to stop beating on my partner. Then we can go
inside and explain ourselves."
Scully looked at Mulder's bloody face. He nodded. She
turned to the woman. "Okay, but first I want the weapons."
Nikita passed them over, and Scully went to break up the fight
while Mulder held onto Nikita for dear life, although he
suspected that she could break free anytime that she wanted to.
"Buffy. Buffy! That's enough!" The girl stopped in
mid-punch and looked to Giles.
"She's right Buffy. The man is.....unconscious." Giles
said with a start. The old Buffy would never have gone so far as
to beat a man into unconsciousness. What had really happened
in the month and a half absence?
Scully took charge. "Take him inside to the library. We'll
bring the woman." Everyone else looked up in surprise. They
hadn't even noticed Nikita. Xander's drool levels were rising
again.
JULY 15, 1998
6:30 PM
JULY 15, 1998
6:32 PM
JULY 15, 1998
7:00 PM
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