Repost-Willow Rosenberg CIA part 4

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Willow Rosenberg, CIA
Disclaimers: Yes, there are disclaimers. If you want to read them go to
Part 1.
Summary: Willow is out of medical school and has been forced to work for the
CIA. Buffy is not happy about it.
Feedback: Yes, definitely. You can contact me at
Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Feedback makes me write faster (hint, hint)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
Chapter 4
A Very Long Night With Many Guest Appearances

The last thing Pam Nichols expected to see was Willow Rosenberg on her front
porch hugging a handsome man. As she pulled her car over she then noticed
the two women putting a toddler into a car seat. Pam was struck at how
beautiful the women seemed. It appeared that Dr. Rosenberg didn't know any
ugly people. The four adults noticed the car parking right away. Years of
living on the Hellmouth made them all cautious. Dr. Nichols got out of her
car and waved at Willow. The four met by the child-laden car.

"Pam, I didn't expect to see you here" Willow said, fear returning to her
stomach.

"Wait, I know you, don't I?" Amy said, looking at Pam. The other adults
just looked at her. "You're Dr. Nichols with the FBI occult crime unit.
We've been meeting with you on Wicca exchanges once a month. You know, the
'not all witches are evil' group."

"Yes, of course Mrs. Harris. I didn't know you knew Dr. Rosenberg" Pam
replied, the blocks tumbling into place. "No, wait. Willow, the picture on
your desk of your family you showed me today - Mrs. Harris was in it."

"Not the one from last Thanksgiving? I look awful in that" Amy answered.

"You don't look awful and besides, I like that picture" Willow said as she
leaned unconsciously against Buffy. 

"Yeah, honey. I think you look good all the time" Xander said, kissing his
wife's cheek.

"You're in the dog house so you have to say that," but Amy was smiling as
she looked at her husband.

"Will, how about some introductions?" Buffy said.

"Of course. How rude of me! This is my boss Dr. Pam Nichols. I guess you
know Amy and this is her husband, Xander Harris. Their three kids are in
the car. The handsome guy peeking out is Xand Jr. The six-year old waved
at Dr. Nichols. The three-year-old is Jesse and the cute little girl is
Jenny. She is ... what, Amy? ... just about 18 months?"

"Yes, if you can believe it" Amy said with a sigh.

"She looks just like her mom" Xander added. The adults looked at the happy
children in their presence.

"And this is Buffy - my baby" Willow added, placing an arm around Buffy's
waist as they continued to watch the children.

"Oh, please," Amy whined, "If you keep that up I'll be sick. I just wish
Xander would get the idea though." The three women all laughed as Xander
and Pam felt lost on this long running joke.

"So, I'll follow you home honey. It's almost dark now" Xander said looking
at the sky. 
In a few minutes Xander and his family had left and Willow had shown Pam
around their small house. Buffy had left Pam and Willow alone in the den
while she did dishes.

"Nice friends. So, you not only know the password to the Vatican, you know
the local president of L.A. Wiccans. Not many people can say that. Still,
with your science background, I would think knowing people who think they
are witches must make it hard on your friendship with her husband." It was
as good a place as any to search for answers Pam thought.

It was clear to Willow, Pam had concluded that Willow knew Amy through her
association with Xander. If she remembered the picture, she must remember
that she had mentioned that Xander and she had known each other since they
were five. Still she had to tread carefully. Willow thought it was time to
do some fishing of her own.

"She doesn't" Willow stated.

"She doesn't what?" Pam asked confused.

"She doesn't think she's a witch, she knows she is. A very powerful one,
which is why she is President of the California chapter, not just L.A. It's
usually someone much older. Age and experience are important to witches."
There. Willow had given her facts that she knew could be checked.

"I didn't know you knew so much about witches. Do you practice witchcraft
yourself?" That would explain some of her past Pam thought.

"I dabble."

It was at that moment Buffy came back in the room to ask if they wanted
drinks. "Dabble in what?"

"Witchcraft" Pam stated flatly.

"Oh. You dabble like Amy dabbles. Please!" Buffy said. Buffy realized too
late that she had overstepped her bounds. She was now on enemy turf.
<Bunch of bullies and spies> she thought. 

"So, you know Amy from her awareness meetings" Buffy stated. <Time to play
ball> she thought. Then she added, half-jokingly and half-baiting Pam,
"Just don't piss her off. She's great at the 'turn you into a rat' thing.
It's the changing you back part that has the bugs. Besides, it leaves you
with this longing for cheese that never goes away." Buffy then turned to
Willow. "I just came in to see if you needed anything. Maybe something to
drink before I go to meet Angel. He has a job for me."

"You didn't tell me that," Willow said, forgetting anything she had said,
concentrating on her lover.

"Well with the Xander / Amy soap I didn't have time."

"Is it a paying job or ..." Willow stopped and looked at Pam, "the other
kind?"

"Paying, I think. You know his cop friend, Kate. She knows this guy who
has a daughter that is hanging out with one of those L.A. gangs. Anyway the
guy is going to pay me to go get her and then put her in rehab. Angel would
do it but he's booked and this is a one-time thing. If the kid goes back to
the gang, there's not much anyone can do. Angel thought I might have more
luck with her. Besides, it's work."

"Just be careful and remember, even you can't walk through bullets."

Just then the doorbell rang. "Please, God. Don't let this be Xander" Buffy
said as she went to answer the door.

Seconds later Buffy's voice could be heard "Oh. I thought I was going to
meet you at your office - not that I was looking forward to Cordelia." Then
there was a long pause and Buffy added "Oh sorry, you haven't been here
before. Angel, come in." 

"Sorry about showing up but there has been a major change in plans. Turns
out it's not just a drug gang after all. The daughter is mixed up with a
chaos demon. It's connected with the other case I'm working on and the time
frame is not good."

"Okay. Let me get my equipment. Why don't you go say hello to Willow?
She's in the den with her new boss" Buffy said. With the emphasis Buffy had
put on the last two words, Willow knew she was asking Angel to check out Pam
because she didn't trust her.

Angel walked into the den and waved a greeting at Willow.

"Hi, Angel. This is my boss at the FBI/CIA thing, Pam Nichols. Pam this is
Angel."

"So you are a P.I. I am sorry, I didn't catch your last name."

"Smith," Angel replied.

Willow never knew what he would say. Sometimes it was Smith, sometimes it
was Jones. Once when he was with Buffy they were Mr. and Mrs. Fall.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Smith." It was at that moment that Pam looked back to
the mirror in the hallway, across from the den.

"Mr. Smith, were you aware that you have no reflection?" Pam said as she
reached in her jacket and checked on her gun. Angel turned around silently,
swearing to himself. 

"Trick mirror" Willow said.

"What?" Buffy popped back in.

"Trick mirror" Angel repeated.

"Oh yeah, trick mirror. Very funny. Let's go. Willow, will you be okay?"
Buffy asked dragging Angel from the room.

"We'll be fine" Willow reassured Buffy. 

Buffy pushed Angel out of the den, then turned back around and kissed Willow
quickly.

Pam was fuming. "Okay Dr. Rosenberg. Let's start over. You know witches
and you know a vampire. You have been into just about every occult library
in the world. I pulled your records. It took a while. Did you know the
CIA has records on you since you were 15. They have a lot of records. You
were once a practicing witch according to your credit card bills."

Pausing only to breath, Pam continued angrily. "Your lover, while not a
hacker, has an interesting record of her own. She has been arrested 50
times in 7 countries and hasn't been convicted even once. In fact she
hasn't even had a case go to trial. Every single charge, whether murder or
assault - and there have been a lot of assault charges - or breaking and
entering or arson, has been dismissed. Her records started at age 15 when
she burned down the high school gym, not once, but twice. Quite a record if
the information is correct. She's also burned down or destroyed 7 other
gyms, 4 stores, 15 abandoned buildings and, this is my personal favorite,
she blew up her high school on graduation day. And, still, not once was she
brought to trial."

"So much for your permanent records not following you around" Willow
dead-panned in response.

"Did you know most people go through life without ever needing a blood
transfusion? Your friend has been given 27 blood transfusions due to severe
blood loss. Usually from something called neck rupture. I'm a doctor and I
don't even know what a neck rupture is but, given the scar on her neck and
the fact that she apparently works for a vampire, it makes me wonder. No
wonder Bob asked you to move out on your girlfriend and Bob is not the least
bit homophobic. I was given some of this information but I never dreamed
you were this deep into the occult" Pam stated throwing her arms up in
frustration.

"So, you're thinking jail was a better idea."

"No!" Pam almost shouted "You are far too dangerous to leave unchecked. I
thought you were some naive kid caught up in the excitement of being kind of
bad without actually hurting anyone. Boy, was I wrong. Now doctor, what
the hell is going on?"

"Depends. Do you believe that vampires are real? Have you seen vampires
before?" Willow was familiar with the work of the Initiative so she knew
that someone in the government knew about demons but she didn't know what
Pam knew.

"Personally, no. I have seen enough research done by other CIA departments
and by people in my own department to know that they exist. You're all from
Sunnydale and your vampire friend seemed safe enough. Did Dr. Walsh At UC
Sunnydale treat your friend?"

"So, you know about the Initiative" Willow responded and then paused before
answering. "To answer your question, no, Angel was cursed with his soul by
gypsies."

"Cursed with his soul?"

"When you become a vampire your soul leaves because you die and the demon
takes over. It has no conscience and, in general, you can't trust vampires.
When Angel killed a young gypsy girl, her clan put Angel's soul back into
his body. He remembers everything he did as a vampire. He killed his own
family. He killed and tortured countless others. Pam, you don't have to
worry about Angel. He is good now and he helps people. He is trying to get
atonement for all the evil he did without his soul. Angel was Buffy's first
boyfriend. It's a long story."

Willow paused so Pam could absorb this information before continuing. "As
to your other questions, yes, I'm a witch. We fight the bad guys and
before Buffy closed the Hellmouth once and for all we had a lot of evil to
fight. The places Buffy destroyed, well, the gyms anyways, were full of
vampires and no humans and it was the only thing we could do. We blew up
the high school because the mayor, who was a demon, was about to ascend
which was very bad and very big - like size-of-the-high-school big. And a
lot of people helped which is why no one ever even arrested us even though
the whole town knew it was Buffy. I know it sounds crazy but if I were
lying why would the government be so damned ready to put me to work. I
don't think it's me you need to worry about but the guys who knew all this
before and hid it" Willow finished, wondering if she should have told her
about everything and everyone.

"You do have a point. Somebody wanted you in the CIA twelve years ago and
was willing to wait for you to get out of medical school. Somebody,
somewhere, sure was interested in keeping your girlfriend out of jail" Pam
said before abruptly changing the subject. "Can you prove you're a witch?"

"What? Do you want me to turn you into a rat or something?" Willow asked,
all to innocently. 

"Um, no. Can you do something less ..." Pam didn't get a chance to finish
her sentence because she was staring at a floating pencil and then a
floating book. Soon a cup, a set of keys and a ruler joined the fray. 

"Take one of them, go ahead it won't hurt you."

Pam reached for the ruler and held it in her hand. She turned it over,
checking it for strings.

Willow put the other things down, one by one, on the desk. "It took me
years to learn to do more than one or two objects at a time. But on the
other hand, it is fun to know the laws of physics can be broken" she
finished, smiling.

"So, Amy is a powerful witch too? You're in Amy's coven?"

"No. Amy doesn't really even have a coven. We get together to trade stuff
and to help each other out but no coven. At least not in the classic sense.
Amy really is a very powerful witch - she has massive power - but I have a
little more skill at the harder spells. Truth is, Amy is far to busy being
a mother to Xander and his three kids - and Xander is a very big kid. Most
witches are pretty innocent and most are good guys. Many, like Amy, come
from families of witches with handed-down powers and spells. Others are New
Agers who found they have a little talent. Some don't really have any
talent at all. In truth, it is the ones, as you might say, who play at
being witches that are the most dangerous. They have no idea what evil they
can do. And evil loves to feed on the innocent."

Pam and Willow continued talking until shortly before dawn when the front
door slammed.

"Okay. Where is she?" Cordelia's voice echoed through the house.

Willow jumped and went to the living room. Buffy was leaning on a
blood-soaked Cordelia but the blood wasn't hers - it was coming from Buffy.

"Damn. Cordelia, bring her into the kitchen."

"And hello to you" Cordelia said as she pushed Buffy forward. Pam raced to
Buffy's other side and took some of the weight off of Cordelia.

'Damn, Pam's still here' Willow thought before saying "Pam, this Cordelia.
Cordelia, this is Pam."

"What? Did Willow finally get smart and leave you Buffy?" Cordelia asked
the injured slayer.

Willow had water running and her medicine kit out by the time they reached
the kitchen.

"Thanks Cordy. Are you okay? What about Doyle and Angel? Are they okay?"
Willow asked.

"Well, my clothes are ruined, but everyone else is okay. Bumps and bruises
but otherwise okay. It was an ambush."

Willow cut Buffy's jacket and shirt away, tossing them to the floor. 

Pam grabbed the towels and began cleaning the wounds to get a better look.

While Pam cleaned, Willow used a small flashlight and looked into Buffy's
eyes. "Yep, just as I thought. She has one hell of a concussion."

Cordelia asked, "How did you know that?"

Willow looked at Cordelia. "Because she hasn't argued with you once."

"Oh! That explains it" Cordelia thought out loud.

"She's going to need a lot of stitches. I'll call for an ambulance" Pam
said.

She was met with a chorus of emphatic "No's"

"I already have everything she needs right here" Willow replied firmly.

"Plus her being a real doctor" Cordelia added.

"Okay then. How can I help?" Pam asked.

Buffy had three large claw marks on her back and three across her stomach.
All were deep and needed stitches.

Willow gave Buffy a local anesthetic and started by stitching up the cuts on
Buffy's back. Just as Willow was starting on the stomach wounds the front
door flew open.

"How could you be so stupid? If you thought it might be a set up, why go
there in the first place?" a woman's voice said.

"But we weren't sure it was a set up and Faith isn't exactly the most
reliable source. You've said so yourself" a man with an Irish brogue
answered.

'Ow! My head feels like it's about to explode. I can feel it," Buffy
finally broke her silence.

As Doyle and Kate entered the kitchen Doyle went over to Cordelia. "Hi
honey. Is everything okay?" he asked as he hugged her.

"Other than my outfit being ruined" Cordelia stopped herself and then
whispered "I think she'll be okay once the slayer healing thing sets in."
Cordelia really did care about people. She just had a hard time showing it.

"So, what does the doctor and some person I don't know have to say?" Kate
asked. "Oh. Angel asked us to call him. He would have come with us but
..."

"Almost dawn" Buffy mumbled, the knowledge coming from her slayer instinct.

Willow tied off the last stitch on the first stomach wound and moved to the
second. "So how come no one told me Faith was involved because this is what
generally happens when she is" Willow stated through clenched teeth.

"Will, for once it wasn't her fault. She actually warned us and we didn't
listen. And before you say she probably knew remember that it's Faith, and
brain damaged Faith at that" Buffy said, having finally recovered most of
her senses.

"It doesn't matter! She has bad karma and I can blame her if I want to. So
we are never, ever, doing anything that Faith suggests again!!" Willow
replied angrily.

"Jealous much?" Cordelia asked.

"Redheads" Buffy answered.

"Witches!" Doyle said.

"I'm with Willow" Kate said, then asked "So, Willow. Who's your friend?"

"Cops!" the group said in unison.

"Kate, this is my boss Pam" Willow answered the detective.

"One of the bullies and spies?" Kate asked.

"Bullies and spies?" Pam asked puzzled.

"Just go with it" Willow said. "Yes, Kate. Only she's with the FBI, not
the CIA."

"A feebee, huh" Kate replied suspiciously.

They were all quiet.

"She knows. Well, not everything, but most of it from CIA records" Willow
stated. 

"From the bugs?" Doyle asked.

"That and from the surveillance over the last 10 years of our lives. We're
very interesting to someone."

"It's just like the CIA to know stuff and not help" Kate said. "Is Buffy
really okay Will? She hasn't had a good comeback in a while."

"Concussion. How long was she out?"

"Only a couple minutes Will" Buffy answered. 

"Try 40 minutes" Doyle said. 

"So what happened Doyle?"

"Buffy followed us in as backup but they were waiting for us. A chaos demon
popped out into real space, picked her up and threw her into a wall." 

"Hence the claw marks" Willow said.

"Anyway, they left her alone because she was out cold and fought with us for
a while. Then, well, we lost. About that time Buffy woke up and saved us
like usual. I never knew that a ceiling fan could do that to a chaos demon
before."

"Not to mention that whole thing with the electric can opener" Cordelia
said, adding "Can you say, eww!"

"Let me guess. Someone called the cops about the noise and you showed up"
Willow said to Kate.

"Actually she was there with us but otherwise that's right" Buffy replied.
"Besides they left the part out about the futon coach."

"Again, eww!" Cordelia, Kate and Doyle said together.

Willow finally finished her stitching and leaned over, kissing Buffy on the
lips.

"Do you have to do that here?" Cordelia asked.

"Cordelia, it is their house" Kate said, the irritation evident in her
voice.

"Besides, I think it's kind of nice" Doyle smirked until Cordelia punched
him in the stomach.

"You and Xander" Buffy said.

"Who and Xander?" Cordelia asked.

"Today Xander and Amy had this huge fight because Larry is going to coach
Xand Jr.'s. tee ball team. Well, you know, Amy loved Larry even in high
school and Xander was scared to death of him."

"Demons he could handle but a gay football player he freaked. I can see why
they would fight" Cordelia added. Then looking over at Buffy, "and I'm not
homophobic. Just because I don't want to watch Willow stick her tongue down
your throat does not make me homophobic" Cordelia said indignantly. 

"She only kissed me Cordy, and you are."

"Well, I see Buffy's feeling better" Kate said. "If everything is cool, I'm
tired and I think I'll go home. If you need me, I've got the cell."

"Wait! Before you go, can you and Cordy give me a hand putting her in bed.
Can I get you some clean clothes Cordy? And you too, Kate. And Doyle, why
don't you keep Pam company?"

Kate went around to Buffy's side. "She wasn't this unbalanced before, well,
physically anyway" Kate said giving Buffy a quick smile as she helped Willow
stand her up. "Did you give her something?"

"Just a local but the blood loss and concussion along with the whole slayer
dynamic causes her body to react differently than most people. It draws on
itself when injured, first supplying more energy for self-preservation, then
it has to shut down a little while later" Willow replied.

The three women got Buffy into bed and into clean clothes. Willow handed
Kate a few names to check before getting Kate and Cordelia some of Buffy's
sweats and tee shirts to borrow. 

Just before falling asleep, Buffy murmured to Kate, "Say good night to Angel
when you see him this morning."

Willow and Cordelia just laughed. "Kate, Buffy and Angel tell each other
everything" Willow whispered in way of explanation. "It used to unnerve me
too."

Returning to the kitchen they found Doyle with a glass of whiskey. "Your
friend or whatever, left. She said that she was assigning you to work at
home today and to call her this afternoon if the world doesn't end. 

"Doyle, would you trust her?" Willow asked carefully. Doyle had good
instincts even if he didn't trust them himself.

"I don't know. She seems okay but I suspect she's just a pawn" Doyle
answered before taking another drink of whiskey. 

"Your vision" Cordelia said. "He had a vision that you were a game piece on
a chessboard."

Doyle picked up where Cordelia had left off. "You weren't in danger but the
person that was using you was in danger as the game went out of control.
Faith was another one of the pieces. Faith along with Xander, Amy & the
kids, Angel, Kate, Cordy, Buffy and I were watching the game. We couldn't
do anything to help you. It wasn't one of my clearer visions. Sorry."
Doyle finished the whiskey off in one large swallow.

"Actually it makes perfect sense to me. And you're right; you guys can't
help this time. But I wish I knew how Xander and Faith fit in it. When did
she get back in town?" Willow asked distractedly.

"A couple of weeks ago. She showed up asking Angel if he knew were she
could get a job and, of course, he helped her. That's Angel" Kate answered.
"A bar owner owed him a favor. Faith is working behind the bar at the
Fosterage and she's sleeping in a room over the bar. Truth is, she seemed
kind of happy with it. Happy for Faith at least."

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