It had begun with the discovery that such things as monsters were real. And existed. And existed in the White House. Anyone other than Toby Ziegler he would not have believed. Had it been Josh or Sam that had run to him with a cock-and-bull story about a monster in the basement – well, he would have dismissed it as Josh or Sam and demanded to know why the hell they were wasting time running around the basement. But Toby – Toby didn’t waste Leo’s time with practical jokes about, well, anything.
So Leo called contacted a military source. He had pretty much expected laughter and ridicule. He had in no way expected them to back off with an air of nervous fear and offer him the phone number of some girl in California.
Some girl in California?
What the hell was that about?
And so the fate of the nation, and more importantly, this administration, was in the hands of some girl who was right now, apparently, aiding and abetting Sam Seaborne in the causing of chaos in the middle of the West Wing.
It was a bad day.
“Is there any chance that you could go and be somewhere else, breaking things that the President is less likely to see or care about?” he asked tiredly.
“Yes. I mean, I’ll go. I won’t break things. I’ll go. We’ll go.”
Sam backed off, Buffy following. “That was Leo,” he whispered in explanation.
“Are you sure he’s not a demon?” asked Buffy, subdued.
“Not really.”
*****
“Come on, that’s ridiculous,” blustered Spike, uncomfortably aware of the keen gaze of the First Lady.
“Now don’t try that with me,” returned Abbey, shaking her head with the slightest of smiles. “From the mirror behind you, I can see you have no reflection and just standing here I can tell you have no pulse. You’re not breathing, and yet you’re walking around the White House, flirting with the staff. How do you explain that?”
Spike inhaled sharply and opened his mouth to argue. Then gave up. Crap. He turned his head to check the mirror – there it was, not reflecting him.
“Oh, fuck,” he said quietly, mainly to himself.
“There was a time, possibly so recently as yesterday, that it wasn’t acceptable to use such language in front of the First Lady,” Abbey suggested, eyes sparkling. Spike stifled a groan. “Though, of course, that was back in the days when vampires didn’t walk around the White House. So much has changed. Ainsley, do you think you could excuse us for a moment?”
“Of course, ma’am, I’ll wait outside.” Ainsley backed away quickly, unsure which was more terrifying, The First Lady or a *vampire*.
“So now what?” sighed Spike. “You call the military, they muck around with my head some more? Or I just get staked here and now?”
“Don’t tell me you met Maggie Walsh,” said Abbey, interested.
“Not as such,” he said, guardedly. “What the hell do you know about her?” He looked at her and felt compelled to add, “Ma’am.”
“I went to college with her. I was always curious to see if any success had come of her work. Very few records remained when she was killed.”
“I’m just a big old success story, me,” said Spike bitterly.
“Still alive,” she noted, amending to, “Or walking about at any rate.”
He glowered.
“So what exactly did she do?” asked a now intrigued Abbey, circling the vampire.
“Put a chip in my head,” sighed Spike. A chip you should be damn grateful for, he thought, glaring at her.
“Behaviour modification!” cried the First Lady. “My God! It worked?”
“Yes it bloody worked. Hey! Were you in this too?”
“No,” said Abbey regretfully. “I was the sensible one who went into medicine. Maggie was the one with the very interesting ideas…” She ignored a snort of ‘interesting!’ from Spike. “I always wondered …But controversial old friends and politics don’t mix.”
“So – let’s get this straight – your husband, who is the president if I’ve got this right – doesn’t know that you know about all sorts pf very strange stuff?” Spike raised an eyebrow.
Abbey frowned. “Nor does he know there’s a vampire wandering around the White House. So….”
“Fine,” said Spike. “I don’t screw you, you don’t screw me.” He thought for a moment. “Or some figure of speech more appropriate to these exalted conditions.”
*****
“A simple thing!” Toby was ranting. “I ask you to do a *simple* *thing*! And instead you SET THE WHITE HOUSE ON FIRE!”
“Wouldn’t this be more discrete if you weren’t yelling?” asked Josh, wincing. It was hard to argue. He *had* set the White House on fire. Again. Couldn’t even blame Sam this time.
“You set the White House on fire,” hissed Toby. “Now would be a good time not to lecture me about *discretion*!”
“It was the book,” said Anya.
Toby stared at her in disbelief. And silently counted to ten.
“It was the book,” Anya repeated, louder. “So there is little point in giving out to….Josh?”
“I will ‘give out to’ whomsoever I want to when they set this building on fire,” said Toby calmly.
Xander laid a restraining hand on Anya’s wrist, willing her not to annoy some of the most powerful people in the world and get them all experimented on. Because Giles was going to be *pissed*.
“You’re just a big bully,” Anya informed Toby.
Xander wondered had he indeed heard a soft, ‘You go, girl,’ from Josh’s blond assistant.
“And you think that you can do what you want and no one will tell you what’s what,” Anya continued, hands on hips. She paused for a moment. “Well, I will!”
The room seemed to hold its breath.
Toby chuckled softly. “If you’re ever looking for a job, give me a shout.”
Anya smiled proudly. “Score one for the ex-demon,” she whispered to Xander.
“Here you all are,” said Giles’ voice, peering nervously around the door. “Or some of you. Where’s Buffy?”
“Are you ready to do the….killing bit?” asked Toby.
“I’ve got everything I need. Except for a Slayer.”
“She should be around somewhere.” Xander motioned vaguely with his hand. “Didn’t she go with that other guy?”
“Sam,” said Josh through gritted teeth.
“And Spike?” asked Giles, with a sense of growing anxiety.
“Also somewhere,” offered Xander.
“Can we gather everyone together? I have sense of overwhelming fear about what they could be doing.”
“That could be caused by the Thesulac?” suggested Anya.
“No, he had it the whole trip,” said Dawn. “‘I hope they’re not setting the building on fire!’” she mocked, in good imitation of Giles’ manner. He glared at her.
“A valid concern,” said Toby, seeming to find the wall extremely interesting. Josh shuffled from one foot to the other.
“Hey Giles!” called Buffy. “Got the stuff?”
“Yes, I do indeed have the….stuff. No problems here?”
“Of course not,” Buffy assured him, wide-eyed and innocent. “What could possible have happened here?”
“Hmm. Let’s get the rest of the group where I can see them and then we should begin the spell.”
“That will get rid of the demon and then you’ll all go away?” suggested Toby.
“I certainly hope so,” muttered Giles.