Repost-ff: Willow Rosenberg, CIA Chapter 3

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Willow Rosenberg, CIA
Chapter Three: Organizing Your Desk and Life.
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Other Disclaimers: Yes there is sex and love in this story. If the idea of
a Slayer and a Witch getting it on disturbs you, leave. If it's illegal
where you live, move.
Pairing: Willow/Buffy
Summary: Willow is out of medical school and has been forced to work for the
CIA. Buffy is not happy about it.
Rating: NC-17 
Thanks: Michael Alt, Dysfunctional Girl, Cheryl Hill and Quindo Ma for a
start.

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Chapter 3:
Organizing Your Desk and Life
The autopsies had gone well. The three soldiers' toxicology screens had at
first shown nothing but Willow did the test again on the brain stem and
there she found a chemical taken from the blowfish. Her colleagues were
impressed which Willow thought was a good thing.

Willow shifted in her seat. Again. She was sore and sitting just made it
worse but on the whole Willow was happy with the memories the soreness
brought to her. In the afternoon Willow was working on a case study when
Pam walked in.

"Heard you did a great job on the autopsy. You found something the others
missed" Pam stated.

"We'll need to do more tests. It is far from over." Willow shifted in her
seat yet again and looked up at Pam.

"Smart and cautious." Pam smiled at Willow noticing how uncomfortable the
girl seemed.

"Is there something you need me to do?" Willow asked, half afraid of the
answer.

"Yes, but first I would just like to talk to you."

<Now what?> Willow thought as she squirmed in her seat only to once again be
reminded of yesterday's activity. She knew she was blushing. 

Pam picked up the picture Willow had placed on her desk. It was a picture
of Buffy and their friends. 

"Which one is your girlfriend?" Pam asked changing tactics. 

Willow walked around the desk needing an excuse to stand and then she
realized that wasn't such a good idea either. She knew Pam saw her
stiffness, making Willow blush again. The witch just hoped Pam took the
blushing as something else. Standing beside the taller woman Willow placed
a finger on the picture pointing out Buffy.

"She is very pretty. Then again so are you." Pam had talked with director
about the best way to work with the girl. She hoped he was right about
gentle kindness working. Willow for her part, just blushed deeper.

"Who are the rest of these people?" Pam continued, noting the deep red blush
on the young doctor.

Relieved to have something else to do besides blush Willow began pointing
out her friends. "That's Xander Harris. He has been my best friend since
we were five. We grew up together. That's his wife Amy Madison only now
she is Amy Harris. This is Oz. He's in a band. He was my first boyfriend
back when we were in high school. We're still good friends. That was the
girl he was dating when we took this picture only he isn't dating her
anymore. I think her name was Shelly or Kelly. I can't remember for sure.
And that's Cordelia and Doyle. They work for a private eye firm in town. I
went to school with Cordy. She once dated Xander but now she lives with
Doyle." Willow knew she was in babble mode but Pam made her nervous.

"This is Mrs. Summers, I mean Mrs. Giles. Buffy's mom and that's Giles,
Buffy's wat ... uh, stepdad." <Must be more careful> Willow chastised
herself. "And the little person all bundled up in way too many clothes is
Kir. They're all friends from Sunnydale only they don't live in Sunnydale
anymore except for Buffy's mom and Giles. I babble a lot I am sorry." With
that she put the picture back on her desk and sought shelter behind her
desk.

Pam continued to stare at the photo. There was something about it but she
couldn't put her finger on what it was she was missing. "It's nice to see
you have the same friends from childhood. Not many people can say that.
But I get the feeling they are more like family to you," Pam said
conversationally, as she continued to look at the photo.

"Yeah, they are definitely family." Willow didn't have to even think about
that. They really were her family.

"I read that your own parents were killed a few years ago. I'm sorry." Pam
did not know why she brought this up, but she was happy the girl still had
people who loved her.

"Been reading my file?" Willow questioned to change the subject.

"Yes and I can't believe you haven't broken in to look at it yourself." Pam
really wasn't sure the girl hadn't but she thought she should fish. The
young doctor really did have the skill to break in.

"I've already been arrested for that once this year. I try to keep my going
to jail down to a maximum of once a decade." Willow knew Pam was fishing
but didn't feel like biting just yet. She didn't trust these people.

"Sounds wise. If you want to look at your file, at least what I have, come
by my office and I'll let you take a look. Maybe that way we can forego
jail for a few years. Anyway, right now I need you to do some internet
searching on a supernatural matter. The Vatican has placed all its occult
books on file with an encrypted system. I would like you to see if you can
open it."

This was the second test of her skills, Pam knew. The soldiers' bodies had
been the first and the young doctor had passed with stunning accuracy and
skill.

"I won't get in trouble for this right?" Willow asked.

"No, the last time I checked the Vatican was in Rome and you're here in the
US working for the FBI on business. So, how long do you think it will take
you to break in, doctor?"

"That depends on what you want - the area or library you want to look at and
what you need to know."

Pam was stunned. The girl knew the basic structure of the Vatican computer
system only Pam wasn't sure why she should have this information. "I have a
list here. It's a long list but the first thing I need is what they have on
the Ahhasha Records and the Book of Azobel.

"Then you want the Kirinov section in the Saint Innation Library, right?
Willow answered automatically looking Pam in the face trying to read her
thoughts. "If I can use my computer it will only take me a minute."

Pam was dumbfounded. She had seven of the FBI's best people working on
breaking into the Vatican's system and none had even come close. In fact,
the man who had gotten the farthest had told her just yesterday that the
main problem was that you had to know what section or library something was
in to even begin to decrypt it enough to break in and find it. The most Pam
was hoping for was a list of libraries and sections. Still, she thought the
girl was too quick with her statement. A minute. She must be kidding.

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Willow's file had indicated she was very good at decrypting computer systems
and a fairly good Doctor of Pathology but she was still a small town girl.
She still had the same friends from high school. She had lived her whole
life in a 100 mile radius so the question Pam was asking herself was why
would a kid like that have a need for this kind of knowledge. Pam had seen
many hackers over the years with the FBI. Most were just out for thrills.
Breaking into unbreakable systems. Most of them eventually went too far and
were caught. Many left viruses or took money to prove they had conquered
the cyber equivalent of Mount Everest. Willow just didn't fit the profile.
For starters she had not gone into a computer field. She was a pathologist
with a heavy chemistry background. Secondly, she never left a calling card
and she never took a dime. She just read files and closed them. This was
the part that made her hair stand on end. It was the profile of a spy. She
had seen CIA people with this behavior. The decrypting was a job. A way of
gaining information. The file she was given had large gaps in it leaving
unanswered questions.

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Willow had turned around and was in her chair facing one of the two
computers in her office. She had it on and was typing code in at an amazing
speed. In about 3 minutes she turned around to Pam and said "Okay, I'm in.
What do you want me to get for you? Oh, you realize that anything the
Vatican has will be, at the very least, in Latin if not Hebrew or some other
dead language. They are not big on translations." 

She waited for her boss to instruct her further. Pam blinked turning her
thoughts back to the here and now. "You can't possibly be in all ready!
You couldn't get in that fast! It has a complicated encryption system!"
Pam was trying to shake herself. She knew something big was going on.

"Uh, not to argue with you but the Vatican's system isn't really complicated
at all. It mostly just uses the whole
you-have-to-know-where-something-is-to-find-it method. Beyond that you just
have to push the right buttons. That and read Latin," Willow stated,
wondering if this had been a mistake.

"Show me. Show me how to get in." Pam answered in disbelief. 

"Ok, I'll reboot and show you." After getting the system up Willow put the
internet address in from memory. She wrote it down for Pam and entered the
Vatican research site. Then she brought up the directory system. It was in
Latin. Willow picked the one that said, in Latin, "Archives." A password
was asked for. Willow typed in "The lord is my shepherd" in English.

"It doesn't matter what language you type it in as long as it is the first
line of Psalm 23." Then instead of hitting 'enter' she brought the arrow to
a midpoint in screen. Pam noticed that the page was a blue pattern with
repeating Greek script. "Instead of 'enter', hit the Greek letters that
represent 23" Willow explained. This brought up another directory. She
picked the Saint Innation Library then she repeated the same process as
before only typing in the second line and again picking 23 out of Hebrew
letters. Repeating the process once more, she picked the Kirinov section,
used the third line of the psalm, and clicked on 23 in Latin. 

"It is always the same. First directory is the first line, the second uses
the second and so on. The trick is to know where something is. You have to
pick the right library or section. Those are very random. It is the random
layout they rely on. Other then that, it is designed for priests to do
research anywhere in the world in their native language. If the 23rd Psalm
doesn't work then try the Sermon on the Mount. In some weird places they
use the message from Gabriel to Mary or the Alpha and Omega line from
Revelations or the Old Testament list of names for Christ. You know; He
will be called wonderful, et cetera, et cetera. The lines usually have
something to do with the section in some way but mostly it's just the 23rd
Psalm" Willow explained barely looking up from the screen. 

The redheaded hacker reached for a few discs in a drawer. She stuck a disc
in the machine then opened the Akkasha Records and began downloading it. A
few discs later she began the Book of Azbobel.

Pam could not believe that it was that simple. "I have had people working
on this for months. I can't believe it was that simple" she stated, not
even stopping to consider what she was saying.

"Well to be honest it took me about 3 months to break the system the first
time."

"When did you do that?"

"When I was in high school." 

"How old were you?" Pam's mind was really half in fear and half in awe.

"I must have been about 17. No, wait. I must have been 16 because it was
right after the Master died but before Angel went bad." <Tell her
everything why don't you. You have to watch what you say> Willow scolded
herself.

"What?" 

"Nothing. I was 16. I guess I have been doing this for a while." Willow
was going to have to watch herself. When she was nervous she babbled and it
might get her into trouble here or, rather, into more trouble. 

"Tomorrow I want you to show the others how to get into the Vatican system
and then finish working with Dr. Cramer on the toxicology screens and
autopsies of the soldiers."

"Yes Dr. Nichols." Willow was glad when Pam left. Plus she really wanted
to stand up and move to a position that was more comfortable.

Pam went directly to her office. She went back through the personnel
records. At first it seemed complete. It had records of her activities
from her last year in junior high through her graduation from medical
school. She was arrested two weeks after her residency was completed.
Details about her known associates included one Xander Harris, owner of a
string of used car lots, and Buffy Anne Summers, her lover, with no constant
means of employment. Some temporary secretarial work, a stint as an aerobic
and martial arts instructor, a bouncer and some private eye work were a few
of the jobs specifically mentioned. She was kind of a jack-of-all-trades. 

Then it struck Pam what was wrong with her records. They were, in a way,
too perfect, too complete. Why would the FBI under the guise of the CIA
have tabs on an average 15 year old? Why track her friends? There was
something she wasn't seeing and she knew it. And these records were missing
details. They listed the systems she had broken into but not the reason.
And if they had known she was breaking in to major systems why not arrest
when she was still in high school? Why wait until she got out of medical
school? Pam put down the file and wandered into Willow's office. Pam had
seen the redhead leave earlier so she walked around the office and examined
it. Neat and orderly was the only impression she got from the office but
the girl had only worked there two days. As Pam looked around her eyes fell
on the picture of Willow's 'family'. Picking it up, she looked deep into
the eyes in the photograph, looking for answers. There was something
familiar about the photo. She was missing something and she knew it. <But
what, and how do I find out?> Pam asked herself. She had tried pulling up
information on Willow out of the criminal database but it only repeated what
she already knew. Then it hit her. She hadn't looked up Willow's friends'
files. Maybe she could find the answers there.

Pam returned to her office and opened the FBI database. She typed in "Buffy
Summers". After narrowing down the matches she found the photo of Willow's
lover. And there she stopped. "No wonder Bob wanted her to move out." Ms.
Summers had been questioned hundreds of times for things relating to arson,
murder, assault ... beginning at age 15. She had been placed on probation
and expelled from Hemry High in LA for burning down the gym twice. A
warrant was issued for her arrest, at age 17, for the murder of a young
foreign national. 

At age 18 she was identified by two policemen as one of two girls in a gang
called the Slayers. The two girls had been caught red-handed in a sporting
goods store. Cameras had caught their pictures as well as the police car's
internal camera. These same two girls busted out of the patrol car causing
it to crash and the officers to suffer mild concussions. The mayor of
Sunnydale himself had made the department drop any arrests or
interrogations. It was also believed that later that same night these two
girls killed the deputy mayor with some kind of wooden weapon. From there
her record led to almost 50 arrests for violent acts but not one conviction.
In every single case the charges were dropped. More often than not they
were dropped for lack of evidence or from an outside party's influence.

There were other things as well. Ms. Summers had no history of hemophilia
or any other blood disease yet she had received over 27 blood transfusions.
She had been admitted to the hospital dozens of times for broken bones,
fractures and blood loss yet in every case she recovered quickly. Pam
looked closely at both the crimes and the injuries. Willow's lover was
mixed up in the occult all right. The photos of her neck wounds, or "neck
ruptures" as they were called, were consistent with vampire bites. She had
seen tons of evidence of vampires. The crime scenes where she was arrested
were littered with occult items. The question Pam had to ask was: Is
Willow involved and how deep? Pam figured the best was to find out was to
ask the girl. Pam left for personnel to look up the address.

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Willow got home in time to hear Xander and Buffy arguing in the house.
<This is not good.>

"Yeah and look what you have done to Willow! You've ruined her life!
Buffy, you are so selfish ... can't you think of some one else beside
yourself?" Xander said angrily.

Willow slammed the door. "Can you Xander? I wouldn't be alive if it
weren't for Buffy and neither would you or your kids. And while we're at
it, I wouldn't want to live without Buffy."

Xander just hung his head while Buffy smiled until Willow reached the couch
and flopped down, wincing as she remembered her sore bottom. Then Buffy
hung her head as well. "Okay, everyone have a seat and Buffy that means you
had better sit next to me and be nice."

Buffy used Slayer speed to land next to her lover. Giving her a soft kiss
hello before turning to Xander. 

"Sorry, my mouth has never been my best ally" Xander said making eye contact
with Buffy.

"Mine either and I said things just as bad only Willow, thankfully, didn't
hear them. Else I would be on the couch with you tonight."

"I take it Amy kicked you out again," Willow concluded.

"Yes," Xander sighed.

"What was it this time?" Willow said switching to psycho-analyst mode. Amy
threw Xander out of the house about once every 6 months. Amy loved Xander
and Xander loved Amy and the kids. They had three, all under 6. It was
just that neither one of them had good role models growing up so they didn't
know how to do things without arguing. <At least Amy didn't turn him into a
rat.> Willow thought. Then another thought hit her. <I hope this isn't
about Anya ...>

Anya still loved Xander and being the nice guy that he was he often would go
over and try to help her. Anya needed a lot of help. Willow and Buffy had
also been called on to help but in Anya's defense she had only been human
for about 11 years and she was a demon for over a 1000. It wasn't easy for
her. She really did try to be a good human. Even as a demon she hadn't
been that bad as demons go but Amy was a jealous person and Xander was not
always in control of his own heart. Amy still got jealous over Willow who
she really liked. Even after Amy was sure Willow had joined the sapphic she
had twinges of jealousy.

"Okay, what happened?" Willow asked.

"It was all Larry's fault."

"Larry who?" Buffy asked.

"You know, gay Larry from high school."

"Oh, Larry who lives with Scott Hope, right."

"That's the guy. Good old Larry" Xander sang out in a sarcastic tune. 

"Still lost," Buffy added. "Explain."

"Okay, so I sign up little Xan Jr. for tee ball only, after I sign him up, I
find out that Larry was going to be the coach and I didn't really want Xan
exposed to Larry so I asked for him to be put on another team. Well, when
Amy found out about what I did ..."

"That doesn't sound like Amy at all," mused Willow, still in Freud mode.

"It doesn't" Buffy added sternly looking at Xander.

"And you came here for a shoulder to cry on. Xander you really need to
think before you do things sometimes," Buffy added harshly as she took
Willow's hand.

Xander, only now realizing what he had done, felt truly ashamed. "It's just
that I don't think of you guys like that."

"Like what?" Buffy said defensively, ready to start battling with Xander
again.

"Enough, both of you. I am so not in the mood for this" Willow said rubbing
her temples.

Xander and Buffy sat perfectly still and no one talked. Then Xander said
sheepishly, "Maybe I should go."

"Xander, sit down. We fight but we are family. Here is were you should be"
Willow said. 

"Yeah, you are definitely family" Buffy said leaning, over to kiss Xander on
the check. "I'm going for pizza, I'll be back in a little while."

Willow just tossed Buffy her wallet and keys. The witch knew perfectly well
the pizza place delivered. She also knew Buffy was on her way to pick Amy
and the kids up. <We should have become marriage counselors> Willow
thought.

Thirty minutes later Buffy, four pizzas, three kids and one witch heavier,
made it home.

Buffy and Willow fed the kids in the backyard while Amy and Xander talked in
the house. Later, Buffy and Amy took the kids to the car and Xander and
Willow hugged on the porch. 


"I wear the cheese it does not wear me." Bald Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.